Last week saw ECSpeRT (Erindale College Special Response Team) held a referendum to increase their student levy by 30¢ per semester. The new levy would add more medical equipment, more first-aid instructors and classes, and more Medical First Responders and first-aid providers.
The levy was passed with 1432 ballots in favour, out of 1519 ballots cast. Students were able to vote at polling stations in the William G. Davis building, the North building, and the CCIT building on October 27 and 28.
“UTM has voted and the results are in. The overwhelming majority of students believe an improved medical first response service is worth a dollar per student!” said Justin Migchels, HBSc, EMR divisional superintendent. “This is a proud day for all of us on ECSpeRT, as the extra funds collected from students will be recycled directly in improving our services delivered to the campus.”
ECSpeRT is an on-campus, volunteer-based, medical emergency response team. ECSpeRT’s medical responders are trained in high-level pre-hospital care. Since the response team is located on campus, they are able to attend to medical emergencies before an ambulance arrives.
Last year, ECSpeRT responded to 54 medical emergencies of which 13 were life-threatening. Since the special response team was instated, there have been no deaths at UTM.
Currently, ECSpeRT medical responders are on call from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday to Friday. With the new levy passed, a plan has been put in motion to expand on-call medical service to 24 hours.
Also, during ECSpeRT elections, UTMSU was holding its elections for Division 1 Directors, first-year representatives. Students were able to vote throughout the week for any of the six candidates. The ballot counts came in, with Peter Huang and Nana Zhou as the elected individuals.
