Lehigh University Adopts Medical Amnesty Policy

Angela Pozza, a Lehigh University student and licensed EMT, spends many of her weekend nights making sure students who drink too much don't succumb to alcohol poisoning. As captain of Lehigh's student ambulance squad, on a typical Friday night she treats three students who are stumbling, throwing up and passing out.

But she's more worried about the students she doesn't treat. Pozza estimates at least triple the number of students she sees don't get help because their friends are afraid of getting in trouble if they call an ambulance.

"Their roomies just bring them back to the room and let them pass out," she said. "It's disturbing."

A new policy that university officials put into effect this week may help put her mind at rest. The medical amnesty policy, commonly known as a "good Samaritan policy," states students cannot be in violation of Lehigh's code of conduct if they seek emergency medical attention for alcohol or illegal drugs.

For example, drunken underage students who call an ambulance for their passed-out friends can no longer get in trouble with the university if they're drunk. The policy is the same for students under the influence of drugs.

"It's a slam-dunk," said Chris Mulvihill, assistant dean of students. "It's tough to criticize the policy."

Several Lehigh students agreed the policy will help with what can be a potentially dangerous situation.

Sophomore Joe Rosen said every Lehigh student has been in a situation where someone passes out but people don't call an ambulance because they fear getting in trouble. Potential university punishments before the amnesty policy included a note home to parents, probation and suspension.

The hardest part, Rosen said, was deciding if the students needed medical attention or just needed to sleep it off. Students didn't want to make an unnecessary call for help and get in trouble for it, but Rosen said the policy takes away some of that gray area.

"All the times you're on the edge, you're now going to get help," he said.

Lehigh student and ambulance squad member Mike Mazzei said trouble arose when students tried to assess whether their friends needed treatment. He said only a professional has the ability to accurately gauge the severity of a person's condition.

"Choking to death on vomit looks the same as someone who passed out," he said.

He said he thinks students now will be much more willing to call ambulance crews, which he said is good because Lehigh students have been fortunate recently not to have any serious alcohol-related accidents.

"We're ripe for a serious alcohol-related injury," he said. "Hopefully, this will help stave that off."

The good Samaritan policy is another chapter in Lehigh's ongoing struggle with alcohol abuse. The school has taken great pains in the last decade to divorce itself from a binge-drinking image, including receiving a $468,000 grant from the Robert Wood Foundation in 2001 to combat alcohol abuse. The policy is not a groundbreaking one for colleges and universities in the Lehigh Valley. Muhlenberg and Lafayette colleges have a similar policy in place, Lafayette since 1999 and Muhlenberg since last year. Officials at both schools said it has encouraged students to seek medical attention when the students thought it necessary.

The policy, however, has no bearing on police enforcing alcohol laws, and while students can escape discipline under the university's code of conduct, they still can be required by Lehigh to attend counseling and psychological services.

But Rosen said even without protection from prosecution by police, students will be much more likely to call for help.

Pozza said the threat of police involvement will deter calls, but that's not a good-enough reason to deny medical attention to those who may need it.

"I wish people wouldn't worry about getting in trouble," she said, "and just call us."

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