In the early 1990s, with the widespread use of computers linked via the precursor to the Internet, e-mail communication among campus emergency responders was commonplace. For readers of the emergency services Usenet group (misc.emerg-services) and its related e-mail list (EMERG-L), there was occasionally a thread about campus-related EMS. But frequently, discussions on the topic of campus EMS were shunned as inappropriate or obscure. As a result, the campus EMS groups that existed were isolated since there was no good forum where they could openly communicate with each other.

In 1993, in response to a need for information exchange among campus EMS groups, the National Collegiate EMS Foundation (NCEMSF) was established. A loosely associated nationwide group of campus responders was formally brought together by Jon Diorio of Georgetown University (Washington, DC) and others.

Filling a niche, NCEMSF quickly grew. In April 1994 NCEMSF held its first conference at Georgetown University. Representatives from over twenty campus EMS organizations spent the weekend of April 8-10 learning about EMS, meeting each other, and having a great time.

Annual conferences every year since 1994 have been a cornerstone of NCEMSF. Providing the networking and information exchange among campus emergency responders remains one of our main goals.