Healthier Broncos
Bring Health HomeFebruary 16, 2017
When I first began school at Santa Clara, I was lost in a sea of opportunities. There were so many avenues for applying myself that I was paralyzed with indecision. Of course, my wish of being a medical student influenced me to look for pre-med clubs. Eventually, I landed at the EMT program and I fell in love.
Their mission to provide the highest standard of emergency medical care to the Santa Clara community struck a nerve with me and I was hooked. Where people saw students in a navy blue uniform, I saw everyday superheroes, cape and all. When I joined the squad in May of last year, it was a dream come true: I too could don the cape I had coveted for years.
It was in the middle of studying to become an EMT that I came across another opportunity to make my mark at Santa Clara: the Peer Health Education program. When my friend Christina Egwim—now President of the organization—talked to me about PHE, I knew immediately I wanted to take part in the program. The role of a teacher is tremendously underrated and we often receive the best information and advice from friends. So, I felt I could make a difference as a Peer Health Educator.
From the moment I joined the class, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all the skills and connections that I have made, from creating polls and presentations for the Multicultural Center and LEAD scholars to organizing our yearly Celebrate Every Body Week.
In the time I’ve attended Santa Clara, SCU EMS and the Peer Health Educators have been quite successful in their endeavors. Yet, I felt that they were capable of achieving so much more. As a result, I didn’t understand why two groups who share a similar mission based on improving the well-being of the Santa Clara community had not collaborated yet. How is it that they haven’t provided a program of note for students in honor of said agenda? Enter the Bring Health Home Program.
Initially an afterthought proposed in an EMS Training Committee meeting, Bring Health Home has reached fruition as the first, full-fledged partnership between SCU EMS and the Wellness Center. This interactive seminar series aims to educate students on basic emergency medical care as well as effective prevention techniques regarding a wide variety of subjects like eating disorders and alcohol poisoning
The first of these seminars—held this past Wednesday—focused on mental and sexual health, with an emphasis on anxiety, sexual and physical assault as well as resources the school provides to tackle such issues. Of course, the Violence Prevention Program was involved in the seminar, providing critical information and facilitating productive discussion regarding sexual assault.
Consisting of topics ranging from alcohol and other drugs to seizures and strokes, Bring Health Home is a unique blend of preventative care and emergency medical techniques, which is critical to include in a Santa Clara student’s education. I hope that through this series you, my fellow Broncos, are enabled to take better care of one another and gain a higher efficacy in medical emergencies. No longer will finding a friend overdosed on alcohol or having someone tell you they’ve just been sexually assaulted instill a sense of paralyzing helplessness.
Bring Health Home is one of the many ways we are working towards our goal of a healthier and safer campus community. Each organization involved in this seminar series concerns itself with a different facet of what makes a healthy Bronco. By coalescing the directives of these groups into one cohesive agenda, I firmly believe that Santa Clara can become one of the healthiest, safest collegiate campuses on the West Coast. In this way, fostering a relationship between Santa Clara EMS and the Wellness Center will repay the school multiple times over in the future.
Eyouab Tadesse is a senior biochemistry major and is a Santa Clara EMT and the Marketing Officer for the Peer Health Educators.