By Brendan Wills via montgomerynews.com.
Encouraged by supporters in the community, Whitemarsh resident Mary Ciammetti will return to St. Philip Neri Church Dec. 22 to help spread the word about the Don’t Stall Just Call alcohol poisoning educational program designed to teach college and high school students about the signs and symptoms of alcohol poisoning.
After community members heard Ciammetti’s plan to help save lives through education, she was encouraged to come back to the church during college students’ winter breaks so that they might bring Don’t Stall Just Call to their colleges and universities and help raise awareness.
Ciammetti and a group of supporters began the Don’t Stall Just Call initiative following the death of her son, Christian, a Temple University student who died of alcohol poisoning so that no other family had to experience the loss of one of their loved ones.
The goal of the initiative is to get Don’t Stall bulletins and magnets that list the symptoms of alcohol poisoning, the college security phone number and a reminder about medical amnesty hung in college or university dorm rooms, residence halls and off-campus houses across the country.
Recognizing that a friend is displaying those signs (stumbling, mumbling, passing out, being cool to the touch and vomiting) and getting them medical help as soon as possible will help prevent needless deaths from binge drinking.
For Ciammetti, getting the message out to as many families as possible means more college and high school students will be armed with knowledge that can save lives.
“What’s really important about all of this is that we, in the state of Pennsylvania, have medical amnesty,” Ciammetti said about wanting to remove the hesitation students experience because they don’t want to get friends in trouble. “It applies for underage drinkers. If someone is in an emergency situation involving drugs or alcohol, the student caretaker can make the call — either 911 or campus specific security phone number — the caller and the victim will not get in trouble for underage drinking. You won’t have your license taken away and all that.”
Ciammetti and the Don’t Stall team are hopeful that the presentation on Dec. 22 will see an increase in college-age students in attendance so the message is brought to the right audience.
Don’t Stall Just Call also has undergone a social media campaign, and partnered with colleges to put educational videos that teach about binge drinking and alcohol poisoning, coupled with testimonials from those that have saved lives and those that have lost loved ones into college classrooms.
A list of states with medical amnesty laws can be found on www.medicalamnesty.org, one of the resources listed on the Don’t Stall Just Call website, www.dontstalljustcall.org.
For more information on the Dec. 22 presentation, visit the Don’t Stall Just Call Facebook page, www.facebook.com/dontstalljustcall.
For more information on the initiative or to find out how to get the bulletins into the hands of students, interested parties can send an email to info@dontstalljustcall.org.
St. Philip Neri Church is located at 437 Ridge Pike, Lafayette Hill.