The Slippery Rock Alcohol Coalition discussed and elaborated on Pennsylvania's Medical Amnesty Law at their meeting on Tuesday, held at the North Country Brewery.
The Medical Amnesty Law in Pennsylvania states that an individual under 21 years of age cannot be charged with underage drinking if they seek medical attention for another person, according to Windy Stafford, assistant chief of Slippery Rock University's campus police.
In order for the law to take effect, the individual seeking the medical attention must meet certain criteria, according to Stafford.
The law applies if the person has called 911, University Police or EMS, and has been the first person to make the call.
"The person making the call to officials must give their name and stay with the intoxicated individual until the police or medical personnel show up," Stafford said. "This law specifically applies to the caller, not the intoxicated individual who needs medical attention."
According to the law, the individual making the call for medical attention can still be cited with other alcohol-related charges, such as disorderly conduct and public drunkenness, with the only exception being underage consumption of alcohol.
"The individual who is in need of medical attention can still be cited for underage drinking," Stafford said.
If a student reports the medical emergency to a community assistant, who then reports it to the police, the law does not apply.
The person must stay with a community assistant and the intoxicated individual until police or medical personnel arrive.
"Too often, students don't notify police or bring people to the health center because they are afraid of getting cited," Stafford said. "This law is to fix this and prevent intoxicated individuals from being in serious danger before it's too late."
The best way to spread the word about this law is simply by talking about it, according to Jordan Bailley, Slippery Rock University's SGA president, who was in attendance at the meeting.
"Students need to tell other students about this law so people get the help they need," Bailley said.
The organization also discussed an update to the tailgating policy on campus.
Paul Novak, director of environmental health and safety at SRU, collaborated with University Police and Student Health Services to make revisions to the policy.
The university recognizes tailgating as a special athletic event, according to Novak.
"People are expected to tailgate on the premises no more than three hours before and two hours after the game," Novak said. "Those individuals that tailgate are expected to attend the game in between."
According to Novak, bags are now provided upon payment at an athletic event to help eliminate trash and litter left behind.
A leaflet is also provided to inform spectators about the university's tailgating policy.
According to the policy, only beer and wine are allowed on the university premises during tailgating.
"No hard liquor or glass bottles are permitted, and everything must be in a can or cup," Stafford said. "Also, vehicles are not permitted to take up more than one space, and no drinking games are permitted."
"University police and other personnel will be patrolling the area, and anyone caught underage drinking will be arrested," Stafford said.
"We're always looking for improvements and suggestions to the policy so we are able to make it as positive as possible," Novak said. "We're cracking down on this policy to provide safety for everyone."
The purpose of the Slippery Rock Alcohol Coalition is to bring together community members and SRU staff, faculty and students to dialogue about alcohol use on campus and in the surrounding community, according to Renee Bateman, chairperson of the organization.
Meetings are held twice per semester during the academic year.
Upcoming meetings will be held on November 15th, February 21st and March 27th. Meeting locations are to be decided.
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