<p>Health Services at most schools is not a hospital, nor a weekend kind of service. Few campuses have hospitals on them as a matter of fact. Urban centers more likely to but few others. I'll speculate fewer than 1 of 10 campus visits includes even a walk by the Health Services Center. The odd part of this situation from my POV is that WashU has a medical school.</p>
<p>Hazmat, husband just said the same thing! As a side, he urges all parents to obtain a medical power of attorney for their college students. And, make sure it is put in their file at the University Health Center.</p>
<p>Knowing ahead of time the likely ER/Hospital and how to communicate with them is a primary piece of information. Having that information and the document for faxing is just smart planning. I could go into how few parents make a legal contact for other "emergency" situations is also not common. Take it with a grain of salt.......or not.</p>
<p>I have started doing some research online to find the paperwork for my freshman son at WUSTL to file to appoint us as his Medical Power of Attorney, as suggested above. I found the forms on the Missouri Bar Association website, but it seems that they only apply when 2 physicians determine that the patient is "incapacitated." I'm interpreting that as meaning in a coma, or something like that.</p>
<p>I guess I"ll contact Barnes Jewish Hospital tomorrow to find out what we should do if our son ends up in the ER there (since that's the WUSTL med school hospital, I'm assuming that is where he would go in an emergency) or a patient. We want to be sure that the hospital will talk to us should something happen. He's a member of Medic Alert, but I don't know if that would have any bearing.</p>
<p>I admit that I never imagined the scenario that Cressmom and her family is finding herself in now. I somehow assumed that Wash U would act "parental" if our child was in an emergency situation, rather than be absent. This whole situation is very eye-opening. Our son is truly on his own should something happen.</p>
<p>The laws differ from State to state regarding POAs. If Missouri only allows this type of document to be used for POA, attorney husband suggests having another document drawn up that you may keep on hand as well as your student that would indeed authorize physicians, hospitals and other health care profs to release medical info about your student. If you keep a copy, you may then fax it on an as-needed basis and esp if student is incapacitated. Hope that helps, as we cannot ever be too careful with regard to matters such as these.</p>
<p>Just saw this thread-- certainly an eye-opener. I agree with notre dame AL, too, that the home dentist should be able to make a referral. All dentists/oral surgeons are "on call;" if they're away for a holiday, they have another dentist who takes over for them while they're away. I expect he would need a referral, though. I'm very surprised the hospital (or the school) wasn't more helpful, certainly with the prescription pain meds. They would/should have known that he or the sister might have difficulty getting that prescription filled. I would have never dreamed of this sort of scenario, either. I also assumed that any university health services stayed open, even if on limited hours, if students are still on campus. Hope all goes well.</p>
<p>We too are alarmed by the lack of campus support. Being a holiday weekend might have been part of the problem, but it shouldn't have been. There should be SOMEONE of authority who is responsible for helping a sick or injured student, and the WUPD should have that person's name and number, since that is the most logical place an out-of-town parent would call (as Cressmom did). Our D is a freshman at WUSTL and we will be looking into what kind of document we need to have in place so we would be able to get information and facilitate medical care until we could get there. My husband is a physician and I just phoned him and asked him to stop by the ER and see if they had the Medical Power of Attorney forms (then read martharap's post). </p>
<p>Several years ago, the S of friends of ours, who was on an overnight visit and ultimately attended WUSTL, had a grand mal seizure. The parents were very impressed by how quickly and professionally the situation was handled
by representatives of the school. They called the ambulance, rode with him to the hospital, etc. The parents said, "Well, the worse that could happened, happened and the school handled it flawlessly". Sounds like there was a breakdown in the system this time that NEVER should have happened!</p>
<p>I think everyone needs to take a step back and wait for the whole story to come to us from the students dad who is now on the scene.We are hearing the frantic first reactions from a (deservedly) frantic Mom and on the scene frightened younger sister.
As far as I know, having been on staff at 3 U's and having a good friend's S have a dire medical emergency involving surgery at another U (Indiana) the Dean of Student's Office does not close for holidays or weekends..there is always an "Officer of the Day" available, and phone messages will be answered promptly. Also, the Residence Hall Director,or Housing Office should have been reached, even if the local floor RA wasnt available.Perhaps the WU Police Dept wasn't appraised of the situation properly, I assume they would have known how to reach these two parties.Perhaps they determined it wasn't an emergency situation in their regards, as the student had been released from the ER and notified to see an Oral Surgeon "with urgency", not kept in the hospital until he could be seen by one on staff.
The prescription pick up however is an interesting scenario,all due to student's sisters age.I wonder how to solve that dilemma.
In friends Son's case, he broke his leg badly during intramural basketball, was carried by ambulance to an ER accompanied by college staff and when it was determined he needed surgery, the accompanying person (from Athletics) notified the Deans Office who had a rep present all through his surgical ordeal and visits while an inpatient and outpaitent back in the dorms.</p>
<p>
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The prescription pick up however is an interesting scenario,all due to student's sisters age.I wonder how to solve that dilemma
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</p>
<p>I can imagine there's part of the story we're not hearing. All hospitals have depts where you can get prescriptions filled. I have no doubt they may have had trouble getting the prescription filled, because they were pain meds (narcotic-based), but I would have thought the hospital person who made the prescription would know they might have trouble because of age. I'm surprised he wasn't given something while there, or a few meds to hold him over, until he could get it filled. Someone from the ER could have walked them to the hospital pharmacy, too. Don't know how far away the hospital was from the drugstore where they tried to fill the prescription, but I would have gone back to the hospital to get the ER person to help with this-- filling at the hospital pharmacy.</p>
<p>I do think most all universities would have helped in this situation. Again, I suspect there's something missing from the whole story we're getting here.</p>
<p>I think there are separate issues for concern for any parent with a student going to college far from home. Some of these issues could be laid at the door of WU and ought to be improved, but some may not be the university's fault.</p>
<p>First, it sounds like getting emergency treatment for the initial injury was not the problem. He was treated at the hospital and released. The problem was a. finding a specialist, an oral surgeon, who would come to the hospital on Labor Day weekend to treat the injured student and b. not being able to fill a prescription involving pain meds with underage students as his only helpers until the dad could arrive and I guess c. why there was no way to reach a responsible adult to help these underage students get the medication and perhaps navigate the system for contacting an oral surgeon in an emergency (though if the ER tried and failed then perhaps Tuesday was the earlier anyone would see him.) </p>
<p>Do all students know who to call up the chain of command if they can't get a hold of their RA? Is there one number for reaching the "Dean on call" or does this number change based on who is on call? How come campus police had no idea that there's such a thing as a Dean on call and that that number could be given to a concerned parent? Shouldn't the university thoroughly instruct its freshmen on what to do in the even of an emergency involving another student who may not be able to call or speak for himself? Those emergency "on call" numbers for the health services, for RAs, for the Dean on Call should be posted in the residence halls or on the website in an easy to find place. </p>
<p>My S doesn't have a sibling there who would know our cell phones to call in an emergency, so I'm thinking he should carry in his wallet a card with those numbers in case of an emergency so friends he was with could call quickly rather than waiting for police or campus officials to track us down through the driver's license. </p>
<p>I'm not ready to blame the univ for the lack of an oral surgeon on Labor Day weekend, though. There is a growing problem with specialists refusing to answer a call to the hospital even if they're "on call" especially when the emergency is not life-threatening. I would like to hear the university's comment on this event after the parents are able to speak to someone.</p>
<p>Washu has an emergency response team....see website
<a href="http://www.est.wustl.edu%5B/url%5D">http://www.est.wustl.edu</a>
They also stress the privacy aspect of this service. D was told at orientation of the # and service which is 24/7.</p>
<p>At son's college, security has requested that they enter ICE on their list of contact numbers for cell phone. ICE=In Case of Emergency and the telephone number. Of course, this will work only if personnel look at the cell phone and contact numbers listed. But, I do know that security at son's school emphasize this and would know to look.</p>
<p>I'm not blaming Wash-U at this point but making a note to self to call my son's health service and get info on what to do with after hours and holiday emergencies. I was thinking of asking at orientation and then thought I'd sound like a helicopter mom. Well, I am hovering overhead when it comes to his health. It's better to know what to do before something happens.</p>
<p>Courtesy of the WUSTL med school, the health care options in STL are phenomenal. Cressmom appears to be an immigrant--apologizing for her English (which is very good). There may be simple communication misunderstandings.</p>
<p>Cressmom did the right thing by coming onto this board to look for referrals. Her problem does point to the benefits of having high end health contacts--that can be transferred to any city.</p>
<p>Wash U has an emergency team but they said they would take you to the hospital and would pick you up when released, but I know this kid was helped for other student; no one from the emergency team picked him up. Once you get to the hospital you are alone, they supposed we are adults (I’m not 18 yet), but you parents think we can handle this situations by ourselves? Most adults need somebody to help them, why not us? I feel sorry for this boy and his sister.
There is no misunderstanding Cheers, many students and myself were trying to help, we all made phone calls and no one was available (and most of us didn’t know the boy or his sister before). Did you tried to call a physician to assume Cressmom didn’t understand?</p>
<p>Cressmom, hope all is now under control. Sorry you had to go through this.</p>
<p>Jack- I have had two experiences with my child where she was given the prescription upon leaving the hospital. In both cases the hospital did not release patients with medication. Both times she was not in any shape to go pick up meds at a pharmacy.
In one of the instances the school health personal put her in a prepaid taxi to be brought to the emergency room. They also paid for the return taxi. That was all the help she received from them. They did not help her get the prescriptions filled or notify her RA or send anyone with her. The pharmacy was quite a walk and she ended up not filling the prescriptions for a few days when she was able to find someone to drive her. She had just turned 18 a month earlier. They did call her a few days later to set up a follow up visit. I think what they say they will do is sometimes not what actually happens.
I hope all is going well.</p>
<p>My experiences were very different. Both events I spoke w/ treating MD who wrote RX and an orderly rolled me to the RX window in one instance, other time the RX was filled and handed to me. No problems. I had the RX situation earlier this summer, a parent was with me but didn't wish to leave me or the hospital post op....MD handed over the RX which was filled at hospital and not a problem. I think asking and explaining is indicated.
Come to think of it I did the same thing when I was having wisdom teeth extractions. Then again, not a problem. Had drugs at home prior to procedure.</p>
<p>Trapper, I am an immigrant myself--for the second time in my life. I was once an immigrant living in Asia. Irregardless of the language, there are aspects of getting attention and seeking power that are more difficult for immigrants. That is an important bit of self-knowledge that every immigrant needs to remember as he/she navigates crisis. Even if we've lived in-country for years, we aren't operating with the same deck of cards, so to speak. We don't know the inside track--and our guess is often slightly off. I've learned this the hard way.</p>
<p>Both of my sons have been hospitalized in third world countries. They have both managed but I know the uneasy feeling. In those instances, I wouldn't have had a clue how to assist them. On the other hand, one was hospitalized in the US--near his uni. I have many many ties in the US academic medical community and, with a few favors called in, I probably could have had him seen by the best physicians in the city on Easter sunday. I once called in just such a Easter favor for my FIL--with a neurosurgeon. He sat with the family for a hour on Easter. As it was, my son was treated professionally by strangers and released to his friends and he was fine.</p>
<p>If you felt frustrated by your lack of power--then you did not go far enough up the WUSTL ladder. If you felt the boy truly needed more urgent attention from the university, you should have knocked on ANY Dean's door--most of them live within blocks of WUSTL. The Chancellor lives smack int he middle of campus. An older student could have been easily persuaded to get the meds--heck-- a kindly neighbor outside of Wlagreens would have picked up those meds for you. Flagging down strangers is the kind of thing that immigrants are hesistant to do. </p>
<p>Cressmom and dad did all the right things. Hopefully their son will recover well.</p>
<p>Perhaps this points out a need for CC adopt-a-families for parents sending kids to cities where they don't know nayone?</p>
<p>I know both sides of the situation very very well.</p>
<p>
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Perhaps this points out a need for CC adopt-a-families for parents sending kids to cities where they don't know nayone?
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Like this? <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=344820%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=344820</a></p>
<p>I'm going to college a plane flight from home. Before I left for college, I was amazed by the number of people who offered to help me should I have an emergency while at school. This includes friends of my parents, but also quite distant relations. People really are willing to help. Luckily my college has a very transparent program of Deans on Call, and we also have Resident Heads, who are adult graduate students who live with their families in each house on campus. RHs always go to the emergency room with the students in their house, whether the student broke a bone, had a seizure, or had alcohol poisoning. After reading this post, I am very glad that my school has this system in place. It makes me feel much more safe and secure. </p>
<p>My best to Cressmom and her family.</p>