Hertford axe-rescue
What do you do when a fellow student returns home paralytic and then locks himself in his room? This was the dilemma which faced three Hertford students last Thursday night when a friend returned from a college authorised Law Society dinner and then shut himself in his off-site room in Abingdon House.
The second-year Law student refused to respond to continuous knocks and shouts from neighbours. After attempts failed to rouse him, one Hertford student decided to fetch the spare key and inform the porter of the situation. The student in question, on realising that she was unable to gain access to the room using the key, finally decided to call the Emergency Services to ask for advice. True to the Emergency Services' policy to respond actively to every call, a fire engine was sent screeching across Oxford to the rescue. Four firemen hacked their way into the student's bedroom to find him lying on the bed.
The student had not been woken up by the noise of the firemen battling with his door and only came round when a fireman went to check his pulse. The student who rang 999 said, "the firemen told me to get out; I thought he was dead."
Drunken incidents have become part of student culture. In this incident at Hertford the student concerned emerged unscathed; however, there have been cases where students have died from alcohol poisoning or from choking on their own vomit. This follows in the wake of sanctions set down by the University's Committee for Student Welfare last week to increase the price of alcohol sold in college bars in an attempt to curb the alcohol consumption of students.
Hertford students already have a reputation for being particularly fond of alcohol. After noticing damage sustained to college property, the college clamped down on its bar opening times. Hertford Students at present enjoy the shortest college bar opening hours in the university, yet still manage to live up to their alcoholic reputation.
Few Oxford colleges maintain all-night lodges and incidents like this show just how ill equipped night lodges are to deal with emergencies. In this case the responsibility of calling the Emergency Services fell to a student, a decision which no one wants to have to make. Night porters are quite often unable to leave their desks, particularly if the incident is in off-site accommodation. This highlights the need for secondary lodges in off-site accommodation such as the one in the jointly owned Liddel Building on Iffley Road, or at least the installation of two night porters to ensure that the main lodge is never left unattended.
28th Oct 1999