Brown is no longer planning to appeal the newly enforced state policy that requires Emergency Medical Services to transport patients to Rhode Island Hospital on nights and weekends when there is no doctor at Health Services, Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services Margaret Klawunn said.
Following an internal audit, the Rhode Island Division of Emergency Medical Services informed the University in July that the state planned to begin enforcing a long-standing regulation which requires ambulances to transport patients to facilities staffed by a physician. The University had planned on appealing the regulation but was told at the end of September that it was not likely to succeed.
"The state pretty much said the appeal process would be all for naught," said Safety and EMS Manager Amy Sanderson.
Prior to the changes in enforcement, there was an understanding that legislation had not kept pace with developments in the use of ambulances, Klawunn said. The state had previously approved the policy of transporting students who needed only minor care or observation to Health Services but did not change existing laws, she added.
Rhode Island, Massachusetts and other states are now tightening the regulations that dictate how pre-hospital health care providers - such as ambulances - treat patients, Sanderson said. But she added that this change will not greatly affect the way EMS handles cases.
When EMS receives a call about an intoxicated student, an ambulance team responds and the student is evaluated. If the emergency medical technicians determine a student to be safe and not in need of medical attention, that person may sign a refusal of service waiver, Sanderson said. If the student does require medical attention, he or she is taken to Rhode Island Hospital.
"I don't feel that we have taken anyone to the hospital (this year) that wouldn't have been going to the hospital" before the new enforcement policies were implemented, Sanderson said. "Students who need to be transported for definitive care always are taken to the hospital."
In the past, intoxicated students were often transported to Health Services because they were anxious about their condition or did not want to inconvenience friends or roommates, said Director of Health Education Frances Mantak. Health Services will still provide minor care to students who can get to the building without ambulance transport.
Last year, EMS transported students to the hospital 43 percent of the time in instances involving alcohol abuse, Sanderson said. Another 30 percent were taken to Health Services and the remaining cases were judged to not require medical attention.
Though it is too early to determine how the new policy will affect the number of students taken to the hospital or the number of calls received by EMS, "we're not seeing a big difference," Mantak said.
Now that it seems the policy is here to stay, focus has shifted to making sure students are informed about the true impact, Klawunn said. Meetings with Residential Peer Leaders and Greek Council have already taken place to discuss the change, and new strategies for maintaining student safety, such as stationing EMT foot patrols at events, are being implemented.
