Emergency Medical Services has begun transporting patients to Rhode Island Hospital on nights and weekends in compliance with a newly enforced but long-standing state regulation.
The Rhode Island division of EMS informed the University in July that it would start enforcing the regulation, which mandates that ambulances transport passengers to a facility staffed by a physician, administrators said. Health Services is staffed by nurses 24 hours a day, but doctors are only on hand during working hours.
"During the day, ambulances will operate as they always have," said Margaret Klawunn, vice president for campus life and student services. "On nights and weekends, if EMS examines a patient and sees they require further care, they would have to be transported to a hospital."
In response to the regulation, the University plans to clarify EMS's policies that decide if a student can refuse care and issue a written appeal to the state requesting the regulation be removed, Klawunn said. While the regulation has been on the books for years, the Rhode Island Division of EMS only recently decided to enforce it following an internal audit at the agency, Safety and EMS Manager Amy Sanderson said.
Prior to the enforcement of this regulation, those needing only minor care or observation were taken to Health Services, Sanderson said. The new regulation will not change the way EMS decides how much medical attention patients need, only where they transport them to, Sanderson added.
Currently, when EMS receives a call for a student requiring medical assistance, they evaluate that person on site and decide if he should be treated there, brought to Health Services or transported to a hospital. In instances involving alcohol abuse, EMS transports the patient to the hospital 43 percent of the time, Sanderson said. Twenty to 30 percent of the time, EMS judges the student does not need further medical care. Prior to the new regulation, EMS brought the patient to Health Services for observation in the remaining 30 to 40 percent of cases, Sanderson said.
It's these incidents in which students require minor medical care or observation that will be most affected by the regulation. EMS does not charge patients for ambulance transportation, Sanderson said, but unlike at Health Services, patients will likely have to pay a health insurance co-pay at a hospital. The regulation only applies to those needing ambulance transport, and Health Services will continue to provide the same types of 24-hour medical services to students who walk - or are escorted on foot - to Health Services.
"But we don't want people walking from unsafe distances," Director of Health Services Edward Wheeler said.
Administrators said the regulation should not stop students from seeking medical assistance. "It's very important that if anyone is worried about their level of intoxication that they call," Klawunn said. "Get your friend evaluated. Hopefully your friend is not going to require care."
But Molly Josephs '09 said she thinks students will be reluctant to call with this regulation. "This will discourage people from calling."
The University of Rhode Island's EMS and several other organizations that use ambulances will also be affected by the regulation, Sanderson said.
Hiring physicians to staff Health Services around the clock would fulfill the regulation's requirements. But doing so wouldn't be cost-effective, Wheeler said.
Although most students said they would still contact EMS if their friend needed medical assistance, many said the regulation could discourage people from calling.
"If my friend is that drunk that he requires medical attention, I'd still call," said Patrick Lec '12. "But if people are unsure or deciding whether to call it might push them towards not calling."
Sammy Feldblum '12 said Brown's past policy of taking student to Health Services made students more comfortable with calling to ask for help. "Some people seem iffy about calling to begin with. Brown tried to make it so there was no reason not to call," he said. "Now it will show as an emergency room visit to their parents that they will have to explain."
Jenny Wyron '09 said that a student calling for a friend could be apprehensive under the regulation. "You always have to call for someone else so - not knowing their financial situation or their relationship with their parents- it's a big deal if they're going to the hospital."
