Founded in 1953 as a volunteer group of student fire marshals, UMass EMS grew into a First Aid Service and registered student organization (RSO) in 1976. In 2012, UMass EMS was granted Agency status due to the recognized need for emergency medical service on our campus. In 2018, UMass EMS became a fully-equipped BLS service before being recognized as an EMS Ready Campus at the 2019 National Collegiate EMS Foundation annual conference.
Today, UMass EMS is a fully student-run and student-operated EMS service on the UMass Amherst campus employed under the Department of Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S). UMass EMS provides non-transporting EMT-BLS medical event standby services to the campus community. Football games, concerts, Commencement events, and faculty functions are just a few of the hundreds of events we staff each year. UMass EMS is in service and able to staff events 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. UMEMS is raising money in order to help provide the agency with additional supplies and training opportunities.