By Jennifer Price
Shai Cohen spends his days crashing cars at George Washington’s National Crash Analysis Center.
But he spends his nights and weekends saving lives as a volunteer emergency medical technician for Fairfax County Fire and Rescue.
“I thought I needed to be something other than just a student and give a little bit back,” says Mr. Cohen, B.S. ’06, M.S. ‘09. “Life in this country is very comfortable. People take things for granted.”
Originally from Israel, Mr. Cohen came to GW for its mechanical and aerospace engineering program. During his master’s program, he began working for the National Crash Analysis Center as a research fellow, and after earning his degree in December, he became a research assistant for the center, which is located on GW’s Virginia Science and Technology Campus.
Mr. Cohen first started volunteering for the fire department in February 2009. After getting certified as an EMT, he began working about three shifts a month, or 36 hours. That’s in addition to the 12 hours of administrative work he does per month for the department such as organizing Bingo nights for the community.
He put in almost 500 hours in 2009 while being a full-time student, and so far this year, he’s logged an additional 130 hours.
“It’s been a powerful experience,” he says. “It’s been very humbling at times because you see people’s real problems. Most of the time people are really afraid. You can see it in their eyes. They’ve lost hope.
Mr. Cohen was selected by Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Company 5, which serves Franconia, Va., as the “2009 EMS Rookie of the Year.”
As an EMT basic, Mr. Cohen can assess a patient’s condition and manage respiratory, cardiac and trauma emergencies. He’s also responsible for giving an assessment to the doctors once he arrives in the emergency room.
“It makes a big difference when you have a good assessment to give the doctor because it gives them a really good head start,” he says.
While an undergradate at GW, Mr. Cohen created a design for a new vehicle suspension system, which helps improve cars’ handling and comfort on the road. In 2006, he received a mechanical engineering design award for his research and is currently awaiting a patent for the design.
Mr. Cohen wants to take his life-saving skills a step further by going to the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Academy for five months and becoming a volunteer firefighter.
“Everyone wants to ride the big red truck,” he says.
Although Mr. Cohen has helped hundreds of people in need, he says he’s also gained so much from volunteering.
“You meet people when they need you the most,” he says. “It’s really all in your hands. Being able to help them is just amazing.”