The power to send intoxicated students to the hospital rests with emergency responders at other colleges – not campus police, as is the case at GW, according to a Hatchet analysis.
University Police officers, who are certified in first aid and CPR, make the final call to send students to GW Hospital after field sobriety tests and Breathalyzer exams. At other schools with EMS units, only emergency responders make medical judgments.
“We call EMeRG in when we determine that we think they’re bad enough to go to the hospital, because we’re worried about their health,” UPD Chief Kevin Hay said. “Our goal is to make sure that no one dies from drinking 15 shots of vodka. That’s what we’re out to prevent.”
Last year, 75 percent of alcohol-related transports at GW resulted from UPD officers or house staff members stopping intoxicated students.
About a third of EMeRG’s about 900 on-campus calls listed alcohol as the primary cause last year. That rate that has dropped since 2010, when 36 percent of calls were due to intoxicated individuals on campus.
And while EMeRG is on site as officers make the final decision, the group's coordinator said UPD officers override crew members – who are licensed District EMTs with months of training in at least basic life support – to enforce the University's alcohol policies.
“EMeRG providers do not influence the officers' decision to require someone to be transported to the hospital for intoxication,” EMeRG coordinator Stephen Gerber said.
But Michael Hilton, director-at-large of the National Collegiate Emergency Medical Services Foundation, said police should not make decisions about whether patients should be sent to the hospital. Volunteers in EMeRG, part of the national organization, act on behalf of the District’s medical director like other certified EMTs.
“In terms of a purely medical decision, if you don’t have the medical training, it doesn’t make sense to be making medical decisions about patients in the field,” Hilton, an EMS physician, said. “It’s probably not a best practice for a police officer to make that determination.”
UPD officers check students' blood alcohol content twice through breath tests, but do not exclusively rely on that measure, though Hay said it is key in the decision to send an individual to the hospital.
“That’s going to be a big red flag for me because we don’t know where it’s going to top out,” Hay said, adding that his officers consider the “totality of circumstances.”
He said that under D.C. code, UPD officers handle intoxication as a public health problem, rather than a criminal offense.
Hay said that the department uses field sobriety tests, breath tests and horizontal gaze nystagmus tests, which involve moving an object horizontally in front of the person's face. The latter test, according to the National Highway and Safety Administration, is accurate in 77 percent of cases.
"EMeRG relies on the officers' assessment of when someone is too intoxicated to care for themselves," Hay said. "The officer is determining whether or not the patient can provide consent for treatment."
Rochester Institute of Technology and Georgetown, Penn State, Syracuse and Tulane universities have emergency response teams similar to EMeRG. At each school,
EMT medics determine whether a subject is in need of hospital care after coordinating with doctors via radio or phone. The schools’ rate of alcohol-related emergency calls are about 30 percent, similar to the GW rate.
Patients can only refuse transportation if EMTs determine that they are sufficiently alert, cognizant and display no signs of significant intoxication – even if they’re underage, Tulane’s EMS director Bijan Rizi said.
“Officers have no input in whether a person is transported,” Rizi said. “They're not allowed to make any medical decisions.”
Georgetown’s Emergency Response Medical Service, known as GERMS, maintains a low threshold for advising hospitalization and urges patients to seek further medical assessment.
One sophomore, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is underage, said UPD officers dispatched EMeRG to transport him to the hospital after a Breathalyzer exam revealed a 0.14 percent blood alcohol content.
He passed a field sobriety test but was still transported to GW Hospital, where doctors gave him a cup of grape juice.
The University’s “good samaritan” policy grants disciplinary amnesty to students who seek out emergency care for friends even if they are underage and have been drinking.
More students have taken advantage of the policy over the last three years, with the number of calls rising to 33 percent of alcohol-related transports from 22 percent.
In 2009, sophomore Laura Treanor died from alcohol poisoning, prompting the University to launch a review of alcohol policies and better inform students how to recognize when their friends are dangerously intoxicated.
Raw EMeRG data doesn’t show the full picture of liquor-linked incidents at GW. About a third of calls were tallied as alcohol-related over the last three years, but other incidents in which students are unconscious and intoxicated are logged as “unconscious person” and not under the “alcohol” category, University spokeswoman Michelle Sherrard said.
And while more than three-quarters of EMeRG patients were transported to a hospital over the last two years, the service does not track the number of intoxicated students taken to the emergency room for care, as it does not document category-specific outcomes, Sherrard said.
A student scribe in GW Hospital’s emergency department said doctors and nurses have expressed frustration with the University’s alcohol transport policies. As a scribe, she sees most patients as they enter and exit the ER for treatment, and she works alongside medical practitioners. She asked to remain anonymous because she is not authorized to speak to the media.
“When someone is really very drunk and needs acute care, then obviously that’s not a source of frustration,” she said. “But when kids come in and they’re mostly fine, except that they’re just a little bit drunk, it is frustrating to some of the providers.”
GW Hospital spokesman Steve Taubenkibel declined to comment on alcohol-related admissions, costs and care in the ER.
The scribe recalled instances involving underage patients with very low blood alcohol contents, such as the case of one freshman who she said UPD officers sent to the hospital with a BAC of 0.02 percent.
Intoxicated patients who do not need serious medical attention, like stomach-pumping or an IV fluid, are monitored by nurses and physicians, handed a cup of water or juice and asked to sit on a bed for a couple of hours, she said.
Angelo Salvucci, an emergency room physician in Santa Barbara who serves as medical director at two county EMS services in California, said hospitalizing intoxicated individuals opens up the opportunity to refer them to counseling services, if needed.
“If they're drunk to the point where EMS is called on their behalf, then that's an early sign of a substance abuse problem,” Salvucci said.
“Volunteers in EMeRG, part of the national organization, act on behalf of the District’s medical director like other certified EMTs”- not true, EMeRG volunteers operate under the medical license of EMeRG’s Medical Director, not “The District’s”
Patients have the option of going to the hospital with EMeRG voluntarily if they are deemed dangerously intoxicated by UPD. If they refuse to go with the EMS, personnel, they are then transported by UPD. Somehow, this very important set of facts was not expressed by UPD and EMeRG Leadership and/or not reported by the Hatchet. In the end, it is the patients decision to go to the hospital with EMeRG… albeit, they will be made aware that if they refuse to go with EMeRG, UPD will take them into protective custody and take them to the hospital under their law enforcement authority.
get your facts straight before you “fact check” & maybe you should acknowledge the breadth of the article first. this is clearly a thorough report with multiple sources about the practices of EMeRG. EMTs in DC operate under DC regulations, therefore ultimately under DC’s medical director. 2, if a patient is deemed too intoxicated BY UPD, he or she cannot sign a patient disclosure form and therefore must go to the hospital. that was also clear in the article.
The first part of your fact check and recheck is false. While EMeRG and DCFEMS do abide by the same guidelines that DC DOH has put in place, they have different medical controls. EMeRG’s is separate from DC’s. EMeRG is even allowed to do more than a BLS ambulance you would get from DC. The second part is true. In general this article was well written (for once) and researched pretty well.
Dave,
So a couple of things (1) DCFEMS and GW EMeRG work under different standing orders, even though EMeRG is actually integrated into the DC EMS system (I work with both agencies in my job) and (2)a patient can’t sign the Refusal of Medical Care form if the EMT determines that s/he is not competent (ie confused, disoriented, etc.). Then, a patient must be transported by ambulance. If the patient is deemed competent, UPD can still “detain” them and take them to the hospital
I’ve conferred with some lawyers, and if what this article says is true, UPD is breaking the law. If students aren’t really dangerously drunk and UPD is not detaining them to arraign them for a crime, then they can’t hold them against there will. Basically, if a student is conscious and not in need of medical treatment, UPD can’t hold them against their will unless they are being charged with a crime. I’ve consulted several lawyers.
Did you consult with any lawyers?
Your fellow law student friends don’t count as lawyers.
It is a gray area. So in a pure EMS world, if an EMT deems the patient incompetent, the police officer can place the patient into protective custody where basically your decisions about the care you receive and where you go are decided for you. However, if you are medically competent and you are transported to the hospital to receive care against your will, it is kidnapping, assault, and battery. So it really comes down to the EMTs decision and how it holds up against a review from the medical director and a panel of other EMTs. I have to tell you, most EMTs will err on the side of caution and take you to the hospital if you are “borderline” because they do not want to be responsible for you if you die later that day.
GW’s situation is a little more complicated because most of the student’s affected sign an agreement with housing that is a little iffy on what drunk is and what they can do
When Laura Treanor died, GW vociferously denied that it was alcohol poisoning, denying all the evidence. The GW Hatchet, at the time, helped spread GW’s lies. She ingested the alcohol at an off-campus fraternity party. No discipline was taken against the fraternity.
The University didn’t care about a student’s death, only their reputation.
Jared, I remember this well. I was a resident if Ivory Tower and very involved with the Greek Community when Laura tragically passed away. I was outraged that GW was spreading these lies and that the fraternity responsible was not held accountable. No action was taken against them whatsoever. In fact, GW seemed to be covering up the tragedy as much as possible, and the Hatchet did little to call them out on this. In my opinion as a former fraternity president, we need to hold the university and all organizations within it (Greek and non-Greek) to a higher standard and expect them to be accountable for the events that occur at their parties. I’m glad that this article is finally admitting to what we had been trying to reveal for years. However, I’m disappointed that it has taken this long
http://www.gwhatchet.com/2009/04/30/sophomores-death-caused-by-alcohol-poisoning/
i’m sorry, but how is it someone else’s fault when you drink too much? Holding a fraternity accountable is just people’s attempt to get free money from lawsuits and blame others for their mistakes. Forcing someone to drink is one thing. Providing the choice to drink is another.
Alright.. lemme get this out thurr real quick..
1) F the Hatchet.. this newspaper is full of shit, lies and deceit and has one of the dumbest staffs ever.. The editor is a disgrace of a person and represents how shitty this publication is.. F the hatchet.. it is embarrassing to all of us as GW students.. seriously F this newspaper
2) F UPD and those stupid Emerg vehicles I see all the time… UPD is seriously like the biggest joke.. they need to jerk off more in Gelman study rooms so I dont have to look at those bums
You’re pretty lame, you know that?
Cops never follow your rights in the heat of the situation.. think about it when you are in the hotseat.. This newspaper sucks.. This school sucks.. our UPD needs to go hide somewhere… EMERG is a joke.. GW is a joke.. long live real mu-fuggas.. GET FUCKED UP
I was told that I had two options when I was taken into UPD’s custody in 2007. I could (1) go to the hospital or (2) stay in my dorm and give up my alcohol amnesty. I was sent to the hospital at 1 a.m. and allowed to walk home at 4 a.m. by the hospital. This 3 hour stay “for my safety” cost me $400 on top of the $100 amnesty fee.
So someone who is not trained in HIPAA Privacy Laws will be determining if I go to the hospital…. I don’t think so
UPD is trained in HIPAA. And HIPAA only protects your personal identifying information, it has nothing to do with the decision that someone needs further medical attention.
Fact Check Fake GW Paper!
GW police determine the patients mental copentency using the breathalyzer and field sobriety tests. Once Police determine that a person is intoxicated they have what’s called an altered mental status and they can NOT refuse medical attention (transport to the hospital)
So GWPD isn’t deciding if the drunk kid gets transported to the hospital, they determine if the drunk kid has an altered mental status caused by intoxication…..then the medical directive says they have to go EMERG or DCFEMS to a medical facility.
“EMeRG relies on the officers’ assessment of when someone is too intoxicated to care for themselves,” Hay said. “The officer is determining whether or not the patient can provide consent for treatment.”
Also every student signs a student form and agreement that allows university representatives (UPD) to do this so don’t like it don’t go here!
Great article. Look forward to more journalism of this caliber.
Couple of things here.
1) no one gets their stomach “pumped” for alcohol intoxication. The risk of aspiration is far too great. I know, I actually worked in that ER.
2) You sign a contract with GW Housing programs to live in the dorms. If you read it carefully, it states that they are assuming the care of your well-being whilst away from your parents. Your parents also sign this form. It gives them them the legal authority to make certain judgement about your condition. In the event of alcohol consumption, they can force you to seek treatment. If you refuse, you are in direct violation of your agreement. They enforce this through UPD.
3) If you have alcohol in your system, EMT-Basics cannot determine that you are competent to make healthcare decisions for yourself. Part of this reasoning rests in the inaccuracy of breathalyzer tests (which EMeRG is not allowed to use as a basis of judgement) and the other part rests in the fact that EMT-Basics have a limited knowledge base to make that assessment. Breathalyzers are not good indicators of blood alcohol content. Nor do they say anything about what your peak alcohol blood content will be.
4) Nurses, Techs and Residents at GW hospital get pissed when drunk students come in there; typically, the first thing out of their mouth is, “when can I leave?” “My Dad’s a lawyer, I’m going to sue!” and of course my favorite, “this is unlawful detainment!” They’re a ridiculous group of entitled little shits. Granted, many are forced there who don’t necessarily need it.
5) EMeRG operates under the EMS Medical Director at the GW Medical Faculty Associates, who in turn operates under the guidelines and jurisdictions of the DCEMS Medical Director.
6) There was a comment that EMeRG is allowed to do more than EMT-Basic units who are DC fire? Last I checked DCFD EMT-Basics are allowed to do a whole hell of a lot more. Specific example: they are allowed to give narcan IM for suspected opiod overdoses.
7) A typical stay at the ER can run up to $800. On top of that, you will have to pay a $250 fee for the services of the Attending Physician.
8) There are plenty of students that get forced into going to the ER who definitely don’t need to be there. But the reality is, EMT-Basics, especially those that belong to EMeRG, who at the most might have three years experience in EMS, are not knowledgeable enough to make those judgement calls.
How does it feel to have at least on piece of information wrong in each bullet?
You are a very angry person! Get hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii :0
I’ve got to hit on this:
“it states that they are assuming the care of your well-being whilst away from your parents. ”
We aren’t 17 or younger. Our parents are not responsible for our well-being and cannot force us to go to the hospital.
How can you assume this power when we’re away from them, if they don’t have this power to begin with?
yes, forcing you to get in to someone else’s vehicle and be taken wherever they want is kidnapping. UPD gets around this by offering you the “choice” internal GW disciplinary punishments or the hospital
It’s funny these complaints are not even valid. Further more would you rather UPD start making the arrest for underage possesion of alcohol and criminally charging for these crimes. For the kids that are of age oh well why wee but majority of those calls are for underage. Criminally UPD can charge every GW student user the age of 21. So lets not complain about something so petty. And get some clarification before making statements that are false. And further more it is not kidnapping if your mental capacity is not there, they are making a decision best on the best needs do you because obviously you are not capable do to the amount of alcohol you have consumed.
So let’s get this policy changed. Most of the officers I’ve spoken to hate the alcohol policy and hate enforcing the policy, but they have to.
Yep. It’s not UPD who makes these policies, it’s the University. Stop blaming them for just doing their jobs. What Waste of Time said is absolutely true. You can be charged criminally for drinking underage. You can be charged criminally for being drunk in public. You can be (immediately) arrested for possession of an open container in public. I mentioned in another article that DC Police would roll up to any of the former frat houses on G Street and the one at 21st and F Street and just start loading people up. Want that to happen because you’re under 21 and you got a bit of alcohol in your system? How would you feel if your friend (over 21) or roommate (over 21) is with you at a party and he was arrested for providing alcohol to a minor and you’re under 21? Or how would you feel if you were arrested for just merely being at a party and one person there is under 21 and suddenly everyone was arrested? Shame on The Hatchet for publishing this farce.
Get the policy changed. Stop blaming the people doing their jobs and stop making all these false claims and “Talked to a lawyer so this is true.” Just yesterday I talked to a lawyer. A brokerage lawyer, but one nonetheless. He provided great insight in to my upcoming second quarter earnings and was a great help with his vast knowledge of criminal proceedings and what the term “kidnapping” meant. He also used Wikipedia to look it up.
I don’t wanna be ‘that guy’, but a friend was taken to the hospital under the UPD’s order. When he got their, the staff were baffled as to why he was sent there in the first place.
On top o’ that, he was forced to go to the school’s rehab program.
I don’t want to get you drunk, but that’s a very fine chardonnay you’re not drinking.
This is why GWU is some pussy shit, real niggas get shit on by nerds