<p>This link is to a blood alcohol content calculator from the University of Oklahoma police dept.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ou.edu/oupd/bac.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.ou.edu/oupd/bac.htm</a></p>
<p>Can I ask a question? We were discussing this at supper last night since I have a Son (probably) going to a State U in two years. The question came up: How do you tell the difference between a drunk who falls asleep and one that passes out? Do you treat them the same? Son said they were told in school that if a drunk falls asleep, just to roll them on their side and let them sleep it off. At what point do you call Security/Ambulance/someone of importance?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.samspadyfoundation.org/cards.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.samspadyfoundation.org/cards.php</a></p>
<p>I just ordered the card from the Sam Spady Foundation. They have pointers on the back for recognizing alcohol poisoning.</p>
<p>Here's what I found during a quick Google search. Seems to me that it would be extremely difficult for a nonmedical person to differentiate between a person who is safely sleeping off their drinks and one who is at risk of dying.</p>
<p>Consequently, perhaps the best you can do is tell your son that it's not a good idea for he or his friends to put themselves in a situation in which people would have to make a decision about whether to call an ambulance.</p>
<p>"You should also know that a person's blood alcohol concentration (BAC) can continue to rise even while he or she is passed out. Even after a person stops drinking, alcohol in the stomach and intestine continues to enter the bloodstream and circulate throughout the body. It is dangerous to assume the person will be fine by sleeping it off. Even if the victim lives, an alcohol overdose can lead to irreversible brain damage. Rapid binge drinking (which often happens on a bet or a dare) is especially dangerous because the victim can ingest a fatal dose before becoming unconscious....</p>
<p>Signs and Symptoms of Alcohol Poisoning:
Unconscious or semiconsciousness.
Slow respiration (breaths) of eight or less per minute or lapses between breaths of more than eight seconds.
Cold, clammy, pale or bluish skin.
Mental confusion, stupor, coma, or person cannot be roused.
Vomiting.
Seizures."
<a href="http://www.alcoholism2.com/alcohol-poisoning.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.alcoholism2.com/alcohol-poisoning.htm</a></p>
<p>Looking back on this thread, it's like bad dejavu from the Lucifer posts. It is apparent that the students on this board feel that they <em>know it all</em> when it comes to how much alcohol can be safely consumed, what constitutes too much and what is "tame" or "not tame".... It's a wonder they need college at all. If the 80's were wild and nowadays are tame, then why are so many more students dying?</p>
<p>Did anyone hear today that they are speculating the girl that disappeared in Aruba died of alcohol poisoning/drugs and then the accident was covered up?</p>
<p>I agree with the post below. Don't put yourself in a situation where you need to guess if a friend is passed out or near death. And if you must, err on the side of caution.</p>
<p>Also in the reference above, there is an emphasis on calling 911 is there is any question (see below). This would include any situation where someone appears impaired, ie not walking normally or talking coherently, not walking independently, not fully arousable. It is far better to call too many ambulances than have someone die. Just think if you were in any other situation where someone was acting abnormally or was medically or mentally impaired: would you wait around to see what happens next? In addition, there have been reports of students dying after falling while drunk, and the deaths resulted from a combination of alcohol intoxication and head injuries.</p>
<p>What Should I Do If I Suspect Someone Has Alcohol Poisoning?
Know the danger signals.
Do not wait for all symptoms to be present.
Be aware that a person who has passed out may die.
If there is any suspicion of an alcohol overdose, call 911 for help. Don't try to guess the level of drunkenness.
What Can Happen to Someone With Alcohol Poisoning That Goes Untreated? </p>
<p>Victim chokes on his or her own vomit.
Breathing slows, becomes irregular, or stops.
Heart beats irregularly or stops.
Hypothermia (low body temperature).
Hypoglycemia (too little blood sugar) leads to seizures.
Untreated severe dehydration from vomiting can cause seizures, permanent brain damage, or death.
Appropriate Action for Alcohol Poisoning:
If you encounter a person who exhibits one or more of the signs and symptoms CALL 911. Do what you would do in any medical emergency--call immediately. While waiting for 911 emergency transport, gently turn the intoxicated person on his/her side and maintain that position by placing a pillow in the small of the person's back. This is important to prevent aspiration (choking) should the person vomit. Stay with the person until medical help arrives. If a person appears to be "sleeping it off" it is important to remember that even though a person may be semi-conscious, alcohol already in the stomach may continue to enter the bloodstream and circulate throughout the body. The person's life may still be in danger. If you are having difficulty in determining whether an individual is acutely intoxicated, contact a health professional immediately--you cannot afford to guess.</p>
<p>"If the 80's were wild and nowadays are tame, then why are so many more students dying?"</p>
<p>They're not. Only at "top" colleges. So I think the question you have to ask is what is that is going on at "the top" colleges today (demographics, culture, social attitudes, etc.) that have made them more dangerous than they used to be.</p>
<p>Mini: there are students dying or getting injured as a result of alcohol at all tier colleges and universities. They might not be as publicized as a death at UVA or of a Cornell student, but it happens all over. A death such as this one gets more press coverage, and does bring attention to the problem.</p>
<p>Just because someone has a history of "tolerance", that is no guarantee that the next time will work out the same way. Fatigue, amount of physical exertion, illness, lack of food, stress, type of drinks, timing of drinking can all change the outcome the next time around. At that level, it really is like Russian roulette with your life.</p>
<p>Collegialmom - I do the data for a living. (You can find a sample of my work at <a href="http://www1.dshs.wa.gov/dasa/services/OPPLR/linkstothe2005trendsr.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://www1.dshs.wa.gov/dasa/services/OPPLR/linkstothe2005trendsr.shtml</a> ) I don't look at publicity accounts. I examine data, and seek trends. Alcohol-related deaths among teens are down; alcohol-related traffic fatalities among teens over the past 25 years are way down. The data we have about colleges generally speaking suggests that alcohol poisonings are down (and, in the past 5 years or so, first data indicate that binge drinking is also down slightly.) But this doesn't hold true in the top tier.</p>
<p>My questions still hold. (I have suspicions of answers, but no hard conclusions or even easily testable hypotheses, other than what Wechsler has already found - association of high binge rates at colleges - not poisonings, or deaths, etc. as there aren't enough of them to spot trends - associated with race (whites), wealth (more of it), geography (rural, and more in the northeast and midwest), residential (not commuter), coed (most are, so it's hardly worth pointing out), heavy spectator sports, fraternities. I think there may also be an association with average age of students, with mixed age campuses having less, though I don't remember Wechsler commenting on it.</p>
<p>But knowing the associations doesn't explain the culture that generates the problem.</p>
<p>shows like fear factor- girls gone wild et al that give teens the idea that pushing the envelope towards formerly unacceptable behavior is where its at</p>
<p>A bookseller suggested the "gossip girls" series for my then 14 yr old D-I thought the cover was alittle flashy, but I bought it ( I didn't have my reading glasses w/me otherwise I would have skimmed it)
Thankfully I read it before I gave it to her :eek:
um- why don't I just give her the "valley of the dolls" and save some time? </p>
<p>She normally reads things like " the Princess diaries- Lord of the Rings and Bill Bryson", I don't think books about high school girls going to bars and having sex with married men is what I think high school girls ( or anyone) should be reading</p>
<p>I see parents, even ones that are seemingly together and involved allowing their kids to push the envelope more and more, some of them start in elementary school.
Just since this fall in my circle of friends they have watched their daughters ( with no repercussions as far as I have seen), get their navels pierced, call a cab to take them to a drinking party when the parent supervising thought they were in bed, hangout for hours at their boyfriends house unsupervised, heard them plan about how many "bottles" to take to a party.
" Oh they were talking about pop bottles"
well of course I would assume 14 yr olds * were* talking about pop normally, but not in context with recent history</p>
<p>Mini: I also deal with alcohol poisoning in my profession and do research about it. It is endemic on campuses, at least in my part of the country, where we actually have few top tier and many lower-tier schools. I see your research is confined to the State of Washington, and don't have the time now to review it all, but a cursory look at your data indicates significant hospital admissions for alcohol abuse for all age groups, including teens and young adults. </p>
<p>It divides the data by counties in Washington state, and I don't see how you are extrapolating national college data from these statistics?</p>
<p>fendergirl, I think you raise an important point. All of us -- including college students -- determine our ideas of what is "moderate" and "extreme" in large part by comparing our behavior to our identified peer group. Many students who drink have friends who drink a similar amount. Behavior that is "moderate" for that peer group is often "extreme" when compared to a broader population of students. What happens over time is that the perception of "what most people do" starts to become skewed. We have found that when students become more aware of actual norms (not just the norms for their smaller social group) they discover the discrepancy and tend to to drink less.</p>
<p>Note: I started this post numerous hours ago, just hit "post." Sorry to seem out of the loop re: recent direction of the thread. Nevertheless, MOST college students who drink, drink in moderation MOST of the time. Sometimes when we advertise the dangers we inadvertently give the impression that EVERYBODY is doing it.</p>
<p>I have the national data (you'll see that for the teen data, all Washington data is compared with national trends), but the Wechsler data is protected by agreement with the colleges, and hence cannot be released in the form of reports you see here. There is also national data on poisonings, emergency room use, etc., some of which is in that report, but all of which is available from national data sources.</p>
<p>Parents, I should make some clarifications on my post earlier. I wasn't defending binge drinking and I wasn't implying that 10 drinks is "moderate" for anybody. I was trying to imply that a 10 drink night would be moderate for someone like lucifer. Personally, I wouldn't consider that moderate and it's quite a bit above what I normally consume. I understand that there's a bit of heightened sensitivity in the wake of this incident, and I appreciate your concerns, but I feel they're a bit misplaced. Hell, I'm not even planning on drinking this weekend. Probably not next weekend, either.</p>
<p>How about not drinking at all?</p>
<p>texastaximom: Yes, i did hear that Natalee Holloway may have died from drug or alcohol poisoning. If this is so, they will never know if she took the drugs herself or if her drink was laced with the "date rape" drug (or she could have been given Absynthe (sp?). She may have thrown up in the car since the owner thoroughly washed it out later that day/night (claimed that there were ants in the car).</p>
<p>There is now speculation that the honeymooning couple (the one where the hubby went overboard on the cruise ship) may have been given absynthe without their knowledge.</p>
<p>most of the parties that i have had (and been to) have been a good ten hours long, and i'm sure people have drank 10 beers at them.. throughout the night. i myself can't stand beer and don't drink it, and i have never drank more than four drinks in a night.. so i'm def. not the person to be discussing how much people drink, however </p>
<p>and to whoever was calculating, say a guy is 190 lbs and has 10 beers over a 10 hour period of time. what's his level?</p>
<p>I don't think my kids have ten consecutive hours free available in their schedules to party that long!</p>
<p>most of the ones i've had/been to i usually show up around 4 to start cleaning up and getting things ready, and people start coming around six or so, and they usually go till about 4-5 in the morning. i'd say the party is busiest from probably 8-3 or so, but it goes longer than that. and usually on a friday night.. although i haven't done anything like that in awhile and i'm pretty sure that's over with seeing as how we're all graduated and have gone separate ways..</p>