<p>An unfortunate event let us know the emergency health systems of WUSTL. My S had a very bad accident on campus this morning and he was taken to the Barnes Jewish Hospital. My D went to assist him with other students. He had to wait for hours to get several stitches in his face and be treated for a broken nose, but there was no dentist available to save his teeth. He was released in the afternoon to the care of my 17 years old D, and she couldnt get his prescriptions for pain and infection because she was a minor a no one from the university help her (except the students that they were minors also). My H flying there, and I at home trying to reach an oral surgeon anywhere in St. Louis, and no one were available. WUSTL didnt have any emergency numbers to help us; they didnt have a nurse either to receive the call. Why are we paying the health fee if our kids have no even a nurse on holidays? Thank God we could find a flight to help our S! I cant believe that no even the hospital has a list of physicians to call in an emergency and they released a 19 years old with just a bunch of papers and gauzes to cure himself his wounds. No one from the university called us to let us know our S was getting surgery in the university hospital ER.</p>
<p>Really sad to hear this. I was in an accident on a weekend night with several buddies, one had broken teeth and nose.......scalp laceration, no problems getting treatment at all. We all got immediate transport by university personnel, we had been in a cab, it was not a problem. I think your experience would have been different at another school.</p>
<p>wow that's horrible. that's one place i'm not going to bother applying to...</p>
<p>cressmom:</p>
<p>Sorry to hear about your son's accident and I hope that all will be better once your H gets into town. You make a good point about the health fee we pay and the need for emergency numbers to be readily available to students --- maybe that's a story the student newspaper could do. Soon. Keep us posted on your son's condition.</p>
<p>Cressmom,
I am waiting to hear how things are turning out for your family. That is pretty disconcerting to hear that that no one was in place to deal with a crisis on a holiday weekend. I hope that your situation is improvining and I hope that we can help improve the system. Best wishes to you and your family.</p>
<p>Cressmon,
I hope your S is better, and I am certainly waiting to hear more about his recovery and the way WashU is responding to your crisis.
As a parent I am very concerned about the way WashU "handled" your S emergency.
Please keep us posted on your S progress and on WashU response.
Also, do you mind if we voice concern to WashU using your son example?
Best wishes to your family.</p>
<p>For someone who's d is seriously considering Wash U, this is really disturbing....Please keep us posted as to your son's condition, as well as the school's response..We will definitely be asking about the health services during our visit later this month....</p>
<p>Once you feel that your son is okay and you have had the op to reflect on these events, I urge you to go to University officials and discuss this with them. If possible, try to see the President of the University and make sure you keep following up to get this resolved. Attorney husband also suggests that you have a Medical Power of Attorney for both your son and daughter. You are in our thoughts and prayers!</p>
<p>I second "notre dame"'s suggestions. And, Cressmom, thank you for sharing with us during this difficult time for you. It is a real and powerful reminder that bad things can happen, even inside the vaunted "Wash U Bubble." I will now compile a list of local emergency resources and numbers, something I should have done weeks ago. </p>
<p>My W and I serve as local "substitute parents" for a university student near us whose parents live over 1,000 miles away. We hope to find a similar situation in the STL area for our S (we live 1,000 miles away). There is nothing that can compare with having "parents" nearby to respond in emergencies like this, even "substitute parents."</p>
<p>I am so sorry your family is going through this, it is one of our greatest fears when sending our children far from home. As asked before, please update us on any response from the school, it seems that being a holiday is no excuse for a lack of coverage.
There is one point that I would like to defend Wash U on, however. I am in the medical field and went to the health and wellness talk at parent orientation, and they emphasized the fact that they cannot legally contact parents regarding medical issues. They asked us to stress to our students that they needed to call or tell the hospital to release information. Althought it may not seem like it to us, they are legal adults, and responsible for their own decisions and treatments. There are laws preventing disclosure of information, so they really can't notify parents. I'm also sorry about the medication, but hopefully your S has some friends over 18 that can quickly get that for him.
Medical power of attorney can be sticky, it would give you the right to make medical decisions for your children, but also could result in delay of treatment if they weren't able to get a hold of you in a non-emergency situation. Good luck, this is all very difficult and hopefully your son will be fine and some changes will come of this.</p>
<p>You are all so wonderful, it’s like you give the strength I need at this moment.
I’m frustrated, angry, sad, scared, I don’t know how to call my feeling now.
No one, absolutely no one from the university contact us, no one besides the students and the cleaning staff offered us help. The police gave my H some phone numbers to call, he did, he also call the numbers I got from all of you, but no luck at all, until tomorrow there is no physicians to hand this situation.
My S is in a very bad shape and can’t eat or drink by himself; he would need special liquid food until his mouth could open. It was a freaky accident and there is nothing I can’t do. I hope our insurance could cover most of this, I thought that the fee we pay for health services was to have something in return, but it seems they attend only flu cases if there is any.
Something has to be done with the emergency medical attention and posttraumatic care for the students, what will happen if a tragedy like the one Virginia Tech had this year occur at WUSTL during a holiday weekend?</p>
<p>Unfortunately Newmom, no one under 21 years old can buy painkillers, and no one of the students that were there had reached that age.
I understand that the university can’t give information related to the medical condition, but they can call the parents to tell them their S or D is in the hospital, there are no restrictions to make that call. Doctor called us later to have the insurance numbers without my S permission.
I’m angry because I also went to those lectures on Parent Orientation, not one but twice, and they promised to handle emergencies and the good health care of the students, and we pay for that, but they don’t have anybody on holidays to answer a phone call, don’t even the web site has information about handling cases like this, and it is very clear in that web site that if a student is taking to the hospital in an ambulance, they would go there to pick him up after he is released and that wasn’t what happened. Thank God there is always a Good Samaritan to help and that was a wonderful girl who gave him and his sister a ride back to campus.</p>
<p>See my previous post regarding speaking to University officials about this. Many times universities are not informed when there is a breakdown in communication/services. And, as a previous poster mentioned, one day our students are considered minors (age17) and the next day they are adults (age18). States do not recognize the gray area of transition with regard to laws. You are in our thoughts and try to stay strong and focused for your family.</p>
<p>Cressmom - just sent you a PM - may be able to help.</p>
<p>Cressmom, I'm sorry if I didn't seem supportive. I am also worried that Wash U has no services on the holiday, which probably also means they are not available on weekends. My gut tells me there are more accidents on weekends when students have free time than during the week, so this makes no sense to me. I am also only a nursing student, but we have had it banged into our heads about confidentiality and not releasing info, and this was confirmed at the talk I went to when they said no info would be released and no calls made without your student's permission.
I think we can all learn from this, and hopefully Wash U is on the top of that list. I am going to ask my daughter to put a card in her wallet saying "In case of accident or illness, please contact my parents....at .... and have her sign it. We do not have family in the area, and I doubt her roommates could figure out how to contact us with any speed.
Also, in our state it is perfectly legal to dispense narcotics to those under 21, I called our pharmacy to confirm. They said there is no specific lower age limit, but under 16 would probably not work. Another good piece of info to have about MO, and another reason the Uni should have service on holidays/weekends.
Again, sorry if I seemed unsupportive. You are experiencing what we all fear, and I wish the best for your family and son in particular. Thank you for sharing...</p>
<p>cressmom -- I just wanted to say that I'm so sorry your son was in an accident while at school. How stressful and upsetting it must be for you being far from him. Thanks goodness your daughter was there to help out until your husband could arrive! My heartfelt wishes go out to him for a speedy recovery (and to you).</p>
<p>I'm also really sorry to hear about your son and hope he has a speedy recovery. I also am going to put in my 2 cents and see if they can change procedures for weekends and holidays.</p>
<p>Cressmom,
Sorry to hear about your S's accident. I would like to know is the Resident Advisor or Residential Director at S's dorm was notified? They have an RA on duty or pager 24/7 (?)</p>
<p>Also, I hope, Campus Police is suppose to available for emergencies 24/7 ?</p>
<p>Cressmom,
I hope your son gets well soon. I also am curious about the campus run EMT service that is supposed to be 24/7. I know d was given their number during orientation in case of an on campus emergency.
As an aside, my h works at an university and they are told that they can not give out information on students even to parents if the student is over 18 due to privacy and hippa laws. This has been stressed to them a lot recently due to lawsuits etc....and the new hippa laws.</p>