A closer look: Drug use training limited for SHAs

For the thousands of students living on campus, Student Health
Advocates, or SHAs, may not be the right people to go to for
emergencies involving drug or alcohol abuse.

While these volunteers can provide simple remedies for common
ailments and confidential counseling, SHAs have limited training
and authority in emergency response situations dealing with
substance abuse.

“We’re not doctors,” said Billy Sim, a
second-year neuroscience student and a SHA in Sproul Hall.

Sam Jackson, an RA in Rieber Hall, said the SHAs “really
don’t play a role” in urgent response situations.

When RAs encounter drug- or alcohol-induced emergencies, they
call the campus Emergency Medical Services, often not involving a
SHA at all.

The training the SHAs do receive on drug and alcohol abuse is
more referral-based.

Before starting their year-long terms, all SHAs are required to
take the Community Health Science 19 class, which teaches them
assessment skills, like knowing who to call in what situation.

“It is important to know when to call for help,”
said Karthik Gunnia, a second-year cognitive science major and a
SHA in Rieber. “You don’t want to get an EMT out here
for nothing.”

Tiffani Garnett, SHA Coordinator from the Health Education Unit
in the Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center, noted that
in case of emergencies, SHAs are trained to call EMS and that their
primary duties in these situations are “assessing the
scene.”

SHAs also learn the signs to look for in an individual suspected
of alcohol poisoning.

According to another Rieber SHA, Michaella Corso, a second-year
neuroscience student, slowed respiration, cold and clammy hands,
discoloration of skin and unconsciousness are usually clear
indicators of alcohol poisoning.

“We can give our residents resources,” Corso said.
“But if they are unconscious, it is out of our
hands.”

Unless a SHA notices a repeating pattern of serious destructive
behavior in a resident ““ in which case they may report it to
a Residence Director ““ the confidentiality of an incident is
protected at all costs.

“The relationship and trust that SHAs develop with the
residents is significant,” Garnett said. “We want a SHA
to be that peer, that concerned person on the floor … and we
wouldn’t want SHAs to break the confidentiality
agreement.”

Gunnia agreed on the importance of confidentiality.

“You don’t want rumors starting on the floor,”
he said, adding that he has yet to come across an alcohol- or
drug-related emergency situation.

SHA recruitment for the 2004-2005 school year is going on
now.

The Student Health Advocate program was started in 1973, and it
currently employs about 40 students. No prior experience is
required to become a SHA.