HERU resumes operation

The student-run Hopkins Emergency Response Unit (HERU) resumed 24-hour operation last Monday following 10 days of part-time service. HERU had been inactive since last November, following the resignation of four of the nine officers and the departure of the organization's medical advisor, Dr. Samuel Parrish.

HERU works in conjunction with the Johns Hopkins University Health and Wellness Center and security in order to provide quick first aid and initial medical treatment on the Homewood campus.

The unit streamlined its board of directors from nine to seven officers and changed its constitution before it resumed service, according to Operations Lieutenant Kaveh Nabavighadi. Under the new constitution, all seven directors have equal authority over the unit.

This was done in order to eliminate some of the confusion that arose last year, Nabavighadi explained.

Because the four officers quit due to outside personal issues, "I don't think we could prevent [what happened] from happening again," he said. However, Nabavighadi does not anticipate that similar problems will arise this year.

Current members "either don't know or don't care" what happened last year, said Instructional Chair Steve Brauerman.

Alain Joffe assumed Parrish's positions as director of Health and Wellness and HERU medical advisor on July 16, seven months after Parrish's departure. The unit needs a health advisor to operate.

Resuming operation was relatively easy, according to Joffe and Nabavighadi. The unit met with Joffe, Hopkins Security and Dean of Homewood Student Affairs Susan Boswell, who helped with structural changes.

"They just needed to make sure that they had their chain of command in operation and an adequate number of trained personnel to operate the shifts," said Joffe. The students "did all the work. I just needed to make sure I had a good sense of how they operated," Joffe added.

"Obviously, our members had to get back up to speed on some things," said Nabavighadi.

Current members took refresher courses, said Brauerman.

HERU currently has approximately 50 members and eight crew chiefs, according to Personnel LieutenantDavid Silver. Another 60 students are enrolled in a training course.

Although the unit has been out of service, the training courses ran uninterrupted, said Brauerman.

Recruiting new members was not difficult last semester even though the unit was out of service, according to Silver.