REMS modifies transport protocol

By Jaclyn Youngblood     5/16/10 7:00pm

Beginning in the fall, Rice University Emergency Medical Services will follow a new protocol for students who are transported by ambulance to a hospital: The Rice University Police Department will provide the student's name and destination hospital, as well as the nature of the injury, to the student's college masters. Currently, there is no official protocol in place for notifying anyone of a student's transport off campus, Dean of Undergraduates Robin Forman said. However, masters often end up finding out if a student has been transported to a hospital through conversations with other students. RUPD Chief William Taylor said as it stands, when a student needs an ambulance, an RUPD officer will usher the Houston Fire Department responders to the student who is receiving care from the Rice EMT.

Because of patient care privacy and confidentiality laws, REMS cannot give out information about the student for whom they are providing care, REMS Director Lisa Basgall said. However, because an RUPD officer is summoned once an ambulance is called, that officer would be able to communicate the name, destination hospital and nature of injury to the student's masters relatively soon after the incident has occurred, Taylor said.

Senior Associate General Counsel Carlos Garcia noted in an e-mail that RUPD is not bound by the same confidentiality obligations that would prohibit REMS from giving out the transported student's information.

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"If REMS and RUPD respond to the same call for medical transport, these are two separation operations governed by different sets of protocols; REMS is limited in the situations in which it can provide patient identites, but RUPD and other university officials are not limited in the same way," Garcia said in the e-mail.

Forman said all of Rice's peer institutions have a practice similar to what will be implemented in the fall.

"There's a lot of evidence, even if it's not from our campus, that this kind of system really does work to allow the university to care for students better," Forman said.

Martel College Master Jerry Dickens said at some of those institutions students' parents are often called in the event of a transport.

"Rice is almost unique right now with this sort of strange [current] policy," Dickens said.

With the new policy, though, the information will only go to the student's masters and no further, Associate Dean of Undergraduates Matt Taylor said.

Dean Taylor said the new protocol merely simplifies the process of information sharing that already happens, but usually takes days to occur.

"The idea is that RUPD would send an e-mail to the masters, depending on the urgency of the situation how quickly that goes," he said. "If it's a really serious case, there could be a call."

Dickens said he currently receives a generic e-mail update from REMS about Martel students involved in REMS calls. He said these e-mails do not include the names of students, but simply that a call was made to REMS by a Martel student, what type of injury was incurred and whether or not a transport took place. Dickens said he receives these e-mails sometimes as late as one week after the call was placed to REMS.

Forman said a major goal of the reform was to help students by providing a support system as they undergo what could be a difficult experience.

"There are cases where students are on their own trying to work their way through the city's health care system," he said. "[This is] just a simple way to get information to the masters so they can support the student through what is often a difficult, stressful time."

Dean Taylor agreed and said that throughout discussions with the college presidents, it was clear students value the relationships with their masters.

"Students trust the masters to be the people who make the first contact and follow-up with someone who's been to the hospital, and to decide - based on their judgment, the knowledge of the student - what would be next," he said.

Brown College senior Jaimin Shah said he would feel comfortable with his masters obtaining such information in the event of a transport.

"If something needed to be done to help me, I think [the masters] are responsible enough to make sure I got what I needed," Shah said.

Dickens said he and some of the other masters had been pushing for a change in protocol for almost four years.

"You want someone in the administration to know if a student is transported, but that shouldn't be the same person who can give out punitive damages," Dickens said. "It's just not a good system for no one to know."

Will Rice College senior Josh Ozer said he thought it was crucial for students to know there was a potential for information sharing between RUPD and the masters in the event of a transport.

"It's important for students to know that that kind of information can be divulged," Ozer, Will Rice's chief justice last year, said. "This needs to be a very transparent procedure, not just letting this information be transmitted."

Forman said students would see no difference in the care they receive from REMS, nor will REMS change its commitment to privacy and confidentiality.

"We're trying to be completely transparent and want everyone to know what we're doing," Forman said. "We don't want anything going behind students' backs."

Forman said the relationship between REMS and Student Judicial Programs will not change with the reformed protocol.

"The information from EMS calls will play absolutely no role in any internal judicial processes," Forman said. "Far and above and beyond any other goal we might have is to keep our students safe and look after their health and well-being."

Dean Taylor reiterated Forman's point, saying RUPD is gathering the information solely to pass along to the students' masters.

Forman said this change will be publicized to new students during Orientation Week.

Discussions on changing this aspect of REMS protocol began last August, Forman said. Conversations included the 2009-10 college presidents, the 2010-11 college presidents, the college masters, RUPD, REMS and the Office of the Dean of Undergraduates.

One initial proposal was to have the information collected at the scene of the transport be shared with the Consultation and Assessment Team, whose primary members are Acting Director of the Rice Counseling Center Michael Winters, Assistant Dean for Student Judicial Programs Donald Ostdiek and Assistant to the Dean of Undergraduates Kate Noonan. Dean Taylor said the 2009-10 presidents were hesitant to include an affiliate of SJP in the information sharing process because it might cause students to think twice before calling REMS.

Dickens echoed the presidents' sentiments.

"I think almost everyone, from students to most of the masters, was opposed to that idea precisely because you don't want a situation where students hesitate to call because they feel they're going to get in some sort of trouble," he said of including the CAT in the flow of information.

Shah said he would rather the information end up in his masters' hands than with the CAT, because the masters have a more personal relationship with students and could act immediately, if necessary.

Following those conversations, the 2009-10 college presidents met to debate possible variations that had been raised for the protocol. What is being implemented in the fall - sending information from RUPD directly, and only, to the masters - is what the college presidents unanimously proposed to the administration, Forman said.

Martel President Kevin Tran said the 2010-11 presidents followed the path of the 2009-10 presidents - unanimous support for the protocol - after voicing their main concern: Students might be afraid of the ramifications of calling EMS, knowing that RUPD will eventually show up to collect information in the event of a transport.

Tran, a Martel senior, said the current presidents hoped students would still feel comfortable calling EMS.

"Don't be afraid to call," he said. "It's still safe. It's really not all that different from what already happens [in the event of a transport], it's just more efficient."

Ozer said some situations, such as hospitalizations, are better taken care of when there is an adult involved.

"In the end, it's about trying to do right for the students," Ozer said. "I think people are going to find this [protocol] more helpful than hurtful.

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