Mergendahl is developing a profile of the type of transports Professional Ambulance makes, and Rosenthal is in the process of submitting information to the states about UHS facilities.

“We have the ability to provide a waiver, but at this point it’s only a discussion of ideas,” Prenney says. “It is important to have a clear profile of the Harvard student population, as well as of UHS care capabilities, including equipment, staff and hours of operation.”

Last year, 134 students were taken to UHS in patrol cars. “The first officer on the scene is trained to determine the severity of the injury, and whether an ambulance should be notified,” says HUPD spokesperson Peggy McNamara.

“We did transport at least a dozen Cabot students to UHS in March, though one or two officers might have felt the need for emergency medical treatment and notified an ambulance,” McNamara says.

Many Harvard students agree that non-acutely ill students should be able to get to UHS via ambulance. “Any student who wants to be transported to UHS and does not need the services of a hospital emergency room should be transported to UHS,” says Victor Huang of the Student Health Advisory Council. “If ambulances cannot transport students to UHS, and HUPD is unwilling to transport certain urgent cases, then UHS needs to identify another source of transportation.”

The Department of Public Health has raised the possibility of providing students with more information about when it is appropriate to call for an ambulance. “People access 911 for many different reasons,” Prenney says. “Students are often referred back to UHS.”

“If I’m massively bleeding, I know I’m supposed to go to Mount Auburn,” Susan Brunka ’03 says. “But if I broke a limb, I’m not sure where I’d go.”

—Staff writer Arianne R. Cohen can be reached at cohen7@fas.harvard.edu.