Profiles of 2004 Graduating Students

Aaron Zahrowski is ready to respond on the EMS 'night shift'

By Kate Becker

Aaron Zahrowski doesn't consider himself a night owl.

Senior Aaron Zahrowski, computer engineering major, at the Cornell emergency services headquarters at the Humphreys Service Building. Nicola Kountoupes/University Photography

But look for him at 2 a.m. on a Friday or Saturday, and you might find him at a party in Collegetown -- not as a guest. He'll be there with the Cornell University Emergency Medical Service (CUEMS), tending to the injuries and illnesses of real night owls.

Zahrowski, an electrical and computer engineering major from Portland, Ore., works between 10 and 12 hours a week for the student-run, student-funded emergency service. Since joining the CUEMS crew his first year at Cornell, he has moved up to crew chief and now helps train new crew chiefs from among the group's 70 active members.

Zahrowski chose to come to Cornell, in part, because of its active student emergency medical service. "It was something I looked into when I picked colleges," he recalled. In high school, Zahrowski did computer work for Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue in Oregon, but because he was not yet 18, he was ineligible to join the rescue crew.

The job did combine Zahrowski's interest in computers with his passion for patient care. "Everyone asks," said Zahrowski, how his two passions are related and why he doesn't find a way to combine them. Bioengineering is the most obvious choice, but "I like hands-on patient care," not lab work, he said.

With four years of CUEMS experience now under his belt, Zahrowski is well acquainted with the most common Cornell foibles. "Ankle injuries are popular," as are broken arms and dislocated shoulders. "We get a lot of drunk people, and those always turn out to be intriguing."

Last spring, Zahrowski and his crew got a more serious call. A female student was spotted apparently unconscious on the rocks in the Fall Creek gorge. The CUEMS crew descended to the bottom of the gorge, but "it turned out to be someone sleeping on the rocks," said Zahrowski.

Recently, he helped treat a mother who had taken a fall while accompanying her daughter to an event on the Cornell campus. A few days later, the woman sent CUEMS an e-mail of thanks that concluded, "I would feel very confident in the safety and well-being of my daughter should she be lucky enough to attend Cornell University."

After graduation, Zahrowski will begin work as a process engineer for Intel, where he plans to participate in an on-call emergency response team in addition to his engineering work. "It's a fast-paced environment," he said of emergency work. "No posturing, no office politics."