WASHINGTON, D.C. — Last spring, Nicholas Polydefkis (Jr., Baltimore, Md./Gilman School) logged most of his George Washington University Athletics-leading 175 hours of community service with the GW Emergency Medical Response Group (EMeRG), a student-run volunteer EMS agency on campus.
This summer, Polydefkis has continued to help the community in his native Baltimore while gaining hands-on experience. The Public Health major is currently working shifts as an EMT with both the Baltimore County Fire Department and Johns Hopkins University Medicine. In addition, he’s found time to tackle a full load of summer courses online.
GWsports.com caught up with Polydefkis to find out more about his busy summer.
Where are you working this summer? What was the process like for landing these positions?
I am working two different positions currently. I am serving as a volunteer EMT in the Baltimore County Fire Department, where I respond to emergencies in people’s homes or places of work and transport them to the hospital. I am also working as an EMT at Johns Hopkins transporting critically-ill patients who need upgraded care to a Johns Hopkins hospital or within the hospital from an intensive care unit to a procedure or radiographic study.
I had enjoyed my time on EMeRG when I was at GW and was missing being part of the action when we returned home in March. I applied for the volunteer fire department as well as the JHU positions as soon as I returned home, but it took a bit of time for the paperwork to be approved. For each position, they had to verify my skills, and I had to pass both a physical and a physical-fitness test.
What’s a typical day like?
Currently, I don’t have a typical day. I can either be out in an ambulance transporting patients between hospitals or at the firehouse waiting for a call.
At Johns Hopkins, I generally work three-to-four days per week with the shifts lasting 12 hours and sometimes more.
For the fire company, I am only required to do a couple of shifts per month at the station, but I try to help out as much as possible. I carry a pager and am on call 24/7 to respond to an emergency when I’m not at my other position.
How do you manage that schedule, especially with the non-traditional hours?
I have learned to become vigilant with my sleep and exercise to make sure I am getting enough of both each day. I am also very careful with my diet, bringing my food to work. It’s easy to eat fast food or lots of snacks when working an unusual schedule, so I’ve been vigilant to pay attention to following a healthy diet.
In addition to my EMT work, I have been taking 13 credit hours of coursework this summer. The flexibility of the online courses has allowed me to work overnight and weekend shifts and still attend live class sessions when needed.
How has your time at GW prepared you to take on this EMT role?
While I hoped to learn many things at GW, I didn’t expect to become prepared to serve in a pandemic!
First, the experience has certainly made me a better team player. From day one of preseason my freshman year, it was made clear that the team was a family and was focused on accomplishing the goal of winning together.
This can be directly translated to an emergency scene. During a call, there are many different providers with different roles, but we all have the same goal of saving the patient.
In addition, I have enjoyed taking courses in Emergency Health Services and Public Health, which have provided me the academic background for my current roles.
I am also involved in several student organizations, such as EMeRG. During my time with EMeRG serving as the Assistant Supervisor for Training, I have been able to exercise my clinical skills, while maintaining a full class load and training schedule. That experience really prepared me to take on this busy summer schedule.
How has the EMS job changed during the pandemic?
EMS has changed significantly during the pandemic. Before COVID-19, a provider would only wear gloves and try to treat the patient as quickly as possible.
Now, because of how infectious COVID is and how many different symptoms it can present with, fewer providers actually have contact with the patient.
For those who do contact the patient, they must wear the proper PPE (personal protective equipment). Normally, this is an N-95, a surgical mask, gloves and a face shield, but the level of isolation could go all the way up to using a PAPR (powered air-purifying respirator).
It is also stressful to have to “decontaminate” before coming home to reduce the chances of bringing infection home to my friends and family.
My parents and friends were concerned about my potential exposure to COVID and the risk of me getting sick, and I have been concerned about bringing illness home to them.
We have worked out a plan where I can contribute and do it as safely as possible. We have also devised a plan, so if I ever did get sick, I would be able to safely isolate and they could quarantine to reduce the risk of transmission.
What does it mean to you to be able to contribute to the public health effort during a time like this?
Ever since I was a kid, I have been drawn to helping people by serving, whether in scouts and other volunteer opportunities. My parents, who are both physicians, have demonstrated that caring for a patient is a great honor and responsibility. I feel very fortunate to be able to contribute during this challenging time using the skills I developed at GW.
A famous ID physician said, “During a pandemic, everyone needs to pitch in, and we need to leverage everyone to their full capacity with the skills they have.”
As a country, we have all been asked to contribute, and it’s been amazing to see the different ways my family and friends have been able to pitch in, whether it’s babysitting for children of first responders and health care workers, volunteering at the local food bank, making PPE, and staying home and wearing masks.
I see serving as an EMT as the best way for me to contribute, using the skills I currently have and building new ones, so I can do even more to help in the future.
How does this fit into your career plans? Why did you choose this path?
In the long term, I would like to be a physician.
As an EMT, I am exposed to multiple perspectives of the healthcare system. When I transfer patients between hospitals and to different levels of care, I am able to see how diverse inpatient medical care is at different types of hospitals and marvel at the amazing technology available to help critically-ill patients.
When I work at the fire department, I care for patients in a pre-hospital setting. This care has a different goal in that we are stabilizing a critical patient to transport to a hospital. In the ambulance, we carry several life-saving medications, such as epinephrine, naloxone (Narcan) and Adenosine, that can instantly change a patient’s outcome.
I chose to try and go into medicine because I want to help people directly. Having physicians as parents gave me direct exposure to the field of medicine and the incredible ways you can positively impact a patient and their family’s lives.
Release courtesy George Washington University Athletics Communications
