News Honeoye Falls Stay Safe This Holiday Season, Drink Responsibly
Stay Safe This Holiday Season, Drink Responsibly
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- Written by BECKY MCKEOWN
GENESEO — As finals approach and the holidays near for SUNY Geneseo students, the need for celebration grows. Unfortunately, these celebrations can lead to tragedy.
Since the 2009 alcohol-related death of college student Arman Partamian at a Lower Court Street residence, the dangers of binge drinking have been on the minds of Geneseo and SUNY Geneseo community members.
Last weekend, the Geneseo Fire Department received 24 ambulance calls, 17 of which were for SUNY Geneseo students, according to Deputy Mayor John Fox, Jr. at a Dec. 5 Village Board of Trustees meeting. Out of those 17 calls, 10 were for transports, with 4 calls on campus and 6 taking place off campus.
While Fox said students calling the department in order to help friends in need is a positive thing, the frequent calls can be trying on the fire departments small staff. Fox said even though the department has volunteers from the college, not all of them have completed the necessary training to help out in an emergency.
In order to cut down on ambulance calls, students should look out for each other. If a student notices someone drinking too much, they should try to get the student to stop drinking so they don’t reach the point of needing an ambulance.
Information and resources about alcohol can be found at the “Stand Up! Geneseo” section of the SUNY Geneseo website. For instance, the site says the human body processes alcohol at a constant rate of .5 oz. per hour, regardless of how many ounces a person consumes. The site also provides a chart breaking down blood alcohol levels (BAL) by gender, weight and amount of drinks consumed in one hour. The site also breaks down the effects and dangers of different BAL levels.
The Stand Up! Geneseo website also offers information on the Red Watch Band movement, which is a bystander intervention program attempting to end alcohol overdose deaths by teaching students how to handle alcohol emergencies and get professional help. For more information on how to join the movement, visit www.geneseo.edu/health/red-watch-band.
