Ohio University's Medical Emergency Assistance program, which grants a one-time judicial immunity to students who seek medical attention in drug or alcohol instances, will continue as-is for another year.
When you're drunk
you're not in the right state of mind said Charles Wirtz, vice president of recruitment of the Interfraternity Council and a member of the committee that chose to renew the program. You're underage; you see pictures of your parents in your head you see a friend that you knew that was in jail
and you don't want any of that to happen to you.
OU created the MEA program in 2007 to ease that anxiety, and the committee comprising representatives from organizations including Health Promotions, Judiciaries, OU Police Department, Residential Housing, Interfraternity Council and Student Senate chose to renew the program unaltered.
The committee wants to keep the MEA program in place as not a full policy
but a protocol
said Terry Koons, director of Health Promotions. They liked the pilot program the way it was working
and they wanted to see what cases looked like from this year to next year.
This year about 59 percent of students reported engaging in high-risk behaviors as compared to 61 percent in 2007, according to a survey conducted by Health Promotions. The in-class survey included 1,211 participants, about 7 percent of all Athens campus undergraduates.
We'd like to see more people taking advantage of it to get medical care
Koons added.
Wirtz said student apprehension toward involving the police deters many from seeking help. He added that, before MEA was implemented, a friend injured himself while drunk and could have benefited from the program.
(After much deliberation)
I finally sucked it up and took him to the hospital
Wirtz said. They didn't ask a lot of questions; they were more focused on taking care of him. They didn't ask either of us if we had been drinking. But the fact remains that we waited for maybe an hour to act on anything
because no one wanted to get in trouble.
MEA strives to eliminate this hesitation by assuring students that they can call 911 without worrying about the consequences. Students granted amnesty are required to complete an alcohol or drug intervention program and pay a $100 fee, Wirtz said.
That's minimal in comparison to the fact that you could (potentially) get expelled
