Sunday, September 15, 2013

Standard Saturday? (In A College Town)


Bus stop N. Pleasant Street near Newman Center 11:00 PM last night

So for no apparent rhyme or reason last night was less rowdy than the previous two Saturdays  -- with a lot less foot traffic than usual -- although what passes for standard is still unacceptable:

The "liquor law violations" started a little later than usual as the first arrest seemed to occur at 11:00 PM, one hour later than the previous night.  Although the first call I heard for an AFD ambulance to cart a drunk female UMass student (ETOH) to the hospital came in at 10:45 PM.

APD also investigated a mysterious explosion on Rt 9 near the Hadley border called in by someone at Hawkins Meadow Apartment just after 11:00 PM.  I could also hear Hadley dispatch and patrol officers mention it as well.  Neither department found anything.

Over the next hour APD responded to loud parties at 18 Foxglove Lane, Sand Hill Road in North Amherst, South Whitney Street in East Amherst and they cleared a large crowd in front of 45 Phillips Street (contiguous with UMass) at the request of the tenants, who said the large crowd was not "invited."

Between midnight and 1:00 AM police responded to three more loud parties: two of them at apartment complexes and one large home based party at 15 Taylor Street which garnered the young female hostess a $300 noise ticket.

During that same one hour period AFD would respond to three separate intoxicated student incidents (ETOH) all of them requiring transport to Cooley Dickinson Hospital.

At 1:10 AM on South Pleasant Street, a stone's throw from town center, APD performed a Field Sobriety Test on a college aged driver (who was hopping on one foot and listing badly when I passed by) and based on the results placed him "under" for DUI.  AT 1:35 AM police responded to a fight in town center called in by an AFD vehicle returning to quarters.

Meanwhile in neighboring Hadley, at 1:40 AM,  police responded to reports of a young college aged female staggering down the middle of a main road.  At 1:45 AM UMass PD called in AFD to transport a young ETOH female who was vomiting.

Five minutes later, at 1:50 AM, AFD responded to Amherst Police Department headquarters at 111 Main Street to evaluate a young female who had been in a fight (and apparently did not fare all that well).

At 1:55 AM, Amherst College police requested two ambulances for two young female students, one ETOH and the other "having trouble breathing."  Both were located in the same men's bathroom.

And with that I called it a night, or I should say morning. APD and AFD did not.  

Lawn ornament vandalized last night at a house near UMass

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, passed an ambulance from Amherst on my way home from work last night shortly before 2 a.m. on Route 9. It's a rare Saturday night during the school year when I don't see that.

Larry Kelley said...

I will have a fuller report tomorrow afternoon on the AFD weekend when I get their Weekend Run Report (prepared for UMass to "keep them informed").

At 1:03 AM Engine 1 responded to a carbon monoxide alarm on Main Street, and I'm guessing as of that response all first line equipment and staff were then tied up.

Had another ambulance call been required, we would have had to use Northampton FD.

Anonymous said...

Probably less crowded because the students are starting to run out of money.

I assume the $300 tickets are helping with that.

Anonymous said...

Possible solution: more calculus homework!

Walter Graff said...

Sure looks like your average college town to me. Might seem bigger in Amherst since the infrastructure of this one-liberal town is so small compared to the student population but compare it to the average college town and you'll find it is no different.

Anonymous said...

Ummm....If I was wearing a coat in D.C. Saturday night, wouldn't it have been a bit chilly in Amherst?

And doesn't unexpected/unseasonable cold tend to tone down v

Just askin.....

Larry Kelley said...

Around 60 degrees when I was out and about. So no, not very chilly.

But yes, bad weather is a cop's best friend.

Walter Graff said...

This should help explain why these things often end up in an ambulance.

"Those who may be most prone to engage in extreme binge drinking were male, white, lived in rural areas, used other drugs, smoked cigarettes, missed school more often and had parents with a lower level of education, according to the research.
While the number of teens who consumed five or more drinks at a time has declined since the 1970s and 1980s, findings that extreme binge drinking hasn’t fallen may help explain why hospitalizations for alcohol and drug overdoses are on the rise, Hingson said in a telephone interview today.
“I was actually a bit surprised by the finding,” said Ralph Hingson, director of the Division of Epidemiology and Prevention Research at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, in an interview today. “At that level of consumption, clearly people can get very dangerous blood alcohol levels.” Hingson wrote an accompanying editorial along with Aaron White, the program director for college and underage drinking prevention research at the NIAAA. "


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-16/binge-drinking-turns-extreme-among-high-school-seniors.html

Dr. Ed said...

"Those who may be most prone to engage in extreme binge drinking were male, white, lived in rural areas, used other drugs, smoked cigarettes, missed school more often and had parents with a lower level of education

If this is self-reporting, it more likely means that they were more likely to tell the truth -- less inclined to know that they ought not.

I also have to ask if all of these characteristics have to be met to be at higher risk (as implied) or are each risk factors (as I suspect).

There also is gender bias -- I'd love to see the male/female ratio of (a) open container and (b) OUI arrests/summonses versus the male/female ratio of AFD ETOH runs, I'm guessing that the AFD will have a higher female percentage.

I'd also love to see a total tox scan of a statistically valid number of the AFD's ETOH patients -- I strongly suspect that it would be interesting in terms of the number of drugs found, the mixing of them, and the extent tow hich this was a drug overdose and not alcohol emergency.

Remember that the medical care -- particularly on the AFD level -- is largely similar, essentially "ABC" -- keeping them from choking to death on their own vomit, keeping them breathing, and keeping their heart beating.

Beyond stomach pumping and/or various drinks to absorb stuff, I doubt that CDH does much more in most cases.