There are over 30,000 students at the university. Medical emergencies are bound to happen.

Currently, the university does not require professors to have any medical training. If a student were to have a medical emergency in class, there is a good chance the professor would have no idea what to do.  

Medical emergencies do happen, and more often than one may think. According to the LSU police log, there were 25 medical emergencies in January alone. 

Not only is medical training not required for professors, but it is also nearly impossible for ambulances to find a student on campus. If a student were to have a medical emergency in a building like Coates Hall, it would take time for the emergency medical technicians to locate the building and then find the classroom. There is even a chance that the EMTs would be unable to find a classroom at all.

Each university building has an automated external defibrillator, commonly known as an AED. However, most students and staff have no idea where it is located, and, even if they can find it, most do not know how to use it. Personally, I am a Manship student, and I could not tell you where the AED is in the Journalism building. 

Many students are unaware that buildings even contain AEDs. 

“I had no idea there was even an AED in my senior college,” physical therapy senior Chloe Mendy said. “I do think that this knowledge about the AEDS should be more widely known.” 

Mendy believes it would be beneficial for the university to teach students and faculty about medical equipment on campus in case of an emergency.

Medical emergencies can happen at any moment, and it always pays to be prepared.

Once, when I was in high school, a student began choking on her food. Thankfully, the teachers had been trained on what to do by the school and were able to save the student. If they hadn’t been given that vital training, there would not have been enough time for an ambulance to arrive, and the student could have died.

“Having professors trained for medical emergencies does help bring comfort,” Mendy said. “It is terrifying whenever a medical emergency happens, and it’s even scarier when no one knows what to do.”

The university needs to require medical training for all professors. It is impossible to require medical training for all 30,000 students, but not for the much smaller population of professors. Requiring faculty to have proper medical training will save lives. 

Kacey Buercklin is a 20-year-old political communications major from Murrayville, GA.