EMS calls increase

By Ellen Liu     12/2/10 6:00pm

This semester, Rice Emergency Medical Services saw a significant increase in the number of calls for help they received. According to REMS Captain Hashim Zaidi, this increase included alcohol-related episodes and general incidents across the board. Representatives of REMS and RUPD said that certain aspects of this rise have raised concerns about Rice's alcohol culture and their own resources.According to Zaidi, a Will Rice College senior, the number of intoxication incidents has grown, from public parties to crawls to private parties, and REMS Senior Lieutenant Amir Nikahd said that most of the calls occurred on weekends. REMS Lieutenant Wilhelm Kienast said that there was a 15 percent increase in calls this academic year, and Zaidi attributed the increase in call volume to a variety of causes, from the larger student body to more on-campus visitors to the popularity of Four Lokos, caffeinated alcoholic beverages that received attention in the media for causing the hospitalization of multiple college students.

"A lot of our patients are due to Four Lokos," Zaidi said. "The FDA's probably going to ban it, which is a good idea."

According to Zaidi, the danger of a Four Loko lies in the fact that its caffeine makes the drinker energetic and unaware of its alcohol content, which is the equivalent of four to five beers.

---

---

Zaidi said that, particularly this semester, the severity of the calls seemed to be higher, with more ambulance transports to the hospital than ever.

"These aren't precautionary transports," Zaidi said. "These are of a serious nature."

According to Zaidi, one of the most troubling characteris tics of the increase in alcohol-related calls was the fact that students were often found alone and abandoned. He stated that this development appeared only recently and that, in previous years, a patient's friends would always stay with him or her until REMS arrived. Zaidi said Rice's administration and college presidents have given this issue much discussion and thought.

"The Dean's Office is taking [this current trend] very seriously," Zaidi said. "They want to make sure there's what they call a culture of care at Rice University so that when people drink, it's responsibly and the people that do drink look out for each other."

REMS Director Lisa Basgall cited the strategy Wiess College implemented to run Night of Decadence as a good example of effective caregiving. She said that Wiess worked hard to plan ahead and consequently had fewer REMS-required incidents while such occurrences increased in frequency at other college parties.

"Wiess provides caregivers and other precautions and has a good plan," Basgall said. "We are always impressed."

Wiess' head caregiver for this year's NOD, Tina Munjal, described NOD's security responsibilities as centered on watching over individuals who were inebriated but not in need of actual medical attention. Security either took these students back to their colleges or supervised them in Wiess' movie room. According to Munjal, a Wiess junior, the biggest challenge that night was keeping track of all requests and ensuring that the individuals for whom they were made reached their destinations and were taken care of.

Nikahd, a Duncan College junior, added that students who stay by a patient after calling REMS will not get in trouble for alcohol intoxication. Nikahd said that REMS is completely student-run and meant for students, so patient confidentiality is very important. According to him, RUPD only accompanies REMS in order to make sure everybody stays safe and the patient is cared for properly.

"RUPD will not come and ticket everyone who is there," Nikahd said. "Never leave anyone in a field just because you're afraid."

Police Chief Bill Taylor also said that RUPD mainly accompanies REMS for crowd control purposes and to inform the patient's college masters about what has happened to him or her so that the masters can follow up in any way needed.

"In the past, we hadn't been telling [the masters] and EMS can't tell them directly," Taylor said. "This was our way of finding a way to make sure that happened so that the masters didn't have somebody sitting in the hospital who may need some assistance from the university but there's no way to give it to them."

Taylor also discussed the recent rise in REMS calls overall, stating that all emergency medical technicians were working hard, often attending to cases one after another. He said some problems arising from this increase in activity were a shortage of supplies, people and equipment and the possible burn-out of the EMTs. Taylor mentioned the large range of situations handled by REMS and said that all of these incidents frequently occurred.

"They'll have somebody in the restroom who forgot to take their medication having a seizure," Taylor said. "They'll have injuries in some of the shops - people cut fingers - and in the serveries where the food preparation goes on."

Taylor said that staff and volunteer increases and supervisory structure growth are already being considered.

Zaidi and Nikahd also gave advice for reducing the number of alcohol-related EMS incidents. They told students to keep an eye on each other and never leave partygoers unattended. They also said more caregivers should be designated and encouraged for all events involving alcohol. Furthermore, they mentioned caregiver classes offered by the Wellness Center as something anyone involved in running a party should take.

In addition, Zaidi said that students feeling nauseous should not try to vomit up the alcohol because doing so could cause choking, internal throat damage and other issues without actually lowering alcohol blood levels.

Taylor also said students should call REMS at the onset of sickness because he didn't want any student to die of alcohol poisoning.

"Don't let them sleep it off, because you have no idea if they're coming up or going down, and if they're still going up, they could be in a lot worse trouble then you're seeing," Taylor said. "They could just literally die sleeping there. We don't want that happening here."

Nikahd said he encouraged students to drink responsibly and try not to require EMS assistance.

"We don't want to play alcohol crusaders on campus, but we want to make sure people have a great time and not end up in the hospital," Nikahd said. "Students will say, 'Dude, we had EMS come here two times. It was a killer party,' and that really disturbs us.

---