What To Do in the Event of Alcohol Overdose

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What should you do in the event of an alcohol overdose of a friend or a family member? Understanding the causes and the symptoms of a toxic reaction and responding intelligently and appropriately to such a situation can help avoid a fatal alcohol overdose.

So when someone asks you what to do in the event of alcohol overdose, the best answer is this: "seek immediate medical assistance by calling 911."

An Alcohol Overdose Definition and Basic Considerations

Researchers use the term "lethal dose" (LD) to describe the dose (or "concentration" for alcohol cases) that causes death in half of the population (LD:50).

image: doctor ready to administer medications to alcohol detox patient Most alcoholism experts agree that blood alcohol concentrations in the 0.40% to 0.50% range satisfies the LD:50 requirement.

The blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is the percentage of alcohol in the blood after the alcohol has been absorbed by the stomach and entered the blood supply.

Based on the above we can arrive at a working definition of the term "alcohol overdose."

An alcohol overdose is a dangerous and sometimes deadly result of drinking extreme amounts of alcohol that result in blood alcohol concentrations from 0.40% to .50%. It must be pointed out, moreover, that "binge drinking" (consuming five or more alcoholic drinks at one sitting) can also result in an alcohol overdose.

Key Issues About Your Blood Alcohol Level

The effects of the alcohol on your body depend on the amount of alcohol in your blood (blood alcohol level). Factors that affect your blood alcohol level, also known as "blood alcohol content" (BAC), include the following:

How much food is in your stomach at the time you drink
How strong the alcoholic drink is
How quickly you consume the alcoholic drink
How quickly your body metabolizes the alcohol

One of the few confirmable positive aspects of drinking alcohol is that drinking in moderation can actually have positive effects on the heart, especially with individuals who are at the greatest risk for heart attacks, such as men over the age of 45 and women after menopause. Long-term excessive drinking, conversely, increases the risk for certain kinds of stroke, heart disease, and high
blood pressure.

What Does Blood Alcohol Level Mean in Typical Drinking Situations?

Alcoholism experts define a "standard drink" as 12 ounces of beer, 1.5 ounces of 72-proof distilled spirits, or 5 ounces of wine, all of which contain approximately .54 ounces of alcohol. Moreover, the average person metabolizes alcohol at the rate of approximately one drink per hour.

Paradoxically, harmful relationship patterns such as codependency are frequently perpetuated even after the alcoholic or chemically addicted person becomes sober or "clean." Clearly, when viewed from the outside, sobriety in the household would seem to lead to a less chaotic domestic situation. When viewed from the inside, conversely, the co-dependents may be more depressed and unhappy than ever because the earlier balance, no matter how detrimental or damaging, has been upset.

Now that we know what makes up a "standard drink" and how long it takes a person to metabolize an alcoholic drink, we can put the discussion of "lethal dose" into a more understandable framework:

A 100-pound man or woman would have to consume 9 or 10 standard drinks in less than an hour to reach the LD:50
A 200-pound man or woman would have to consume approximately 5 or 6 standard drinks per hour for 4 hours to reach the LD:50.

The coping mechanisms typically used by codependents are denial (I deny, change, or minimize how I truly feel), low self-esteem (I value others' approval of my feelings, actions, and thinking over my own), compliance (I am afraid to express my own opinions and feelings, especially if they are different), and control (I become resentful when others refuse my help).

image: doctor comforting mother of teen who died from an alcohol overdose Even though drinking patterns such as these are not typical in most drinking situations, participating in club "initiations" (such as sorority or fraternity initiations) or in drinking "games" (such as “Century Club," “Flip the Cup," or “Sink the Battleship” that are played at many parties) frequently involves drinking that can, and does, reach the lethal dose.

Obviously, excessive drinking can lead not only to impaired judgment but also to serious health problems that can result in death.

In the second or third stages of alcohol dependency the alcoholic's hands may have trembled slightly on mornings after getting drunk. In the fourth and final stage of alcohol addiction, however, alcoholics get "the shakes" whenever they try or are forced to abstain from drinking.

Symptoms of An Alcohol Overdose

image: young man remorseful about alcoholic binge The first symptom of an alcohol overdose is usually nausea, followed by vomiting. These symptoms are messages from your body that you consumed more alcohol than your body can metabolize. The following represent other signs and symptoms of alcohol poisoning:

Absent reflexes
No response to being shaken or pinched
Confusion
Difficulty awakening the person
Inability to stand
Seizures
Having a rapid pulse rate
Slow, shallow, or irregular breathing
Blue-tinged skin or pale skin
Unconsciousness (passing out)

Long-term excessive drinking increases the risk of developing certain types of cancer, especially cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, and the voice box. In addition, research has demonstrated that women who drink two or more drinks per day slightly increases their risk for developing breast cancer. Heavy, long-term drinking, moreover, may also increase the risk for developing cancer of the rectum and of the colon.

Alcohol Overdose Action Plan

image: young businessman distraught over his alcoholism What To Do in the Event of Alcohol Overdose. The most difficult aspect of saving someone from an alcohol overdose, interestingly, does not take place in the hospital Emergency Room. Nor does saving a person from alcohol poisoning involve complicated medical treatment. The hardest part of an overdose case is making the decision to seek immediate medical help.

The fear of embarrassment, public humiliation, possible legal repercussions (for instance, for underage drinkers), or a lack of knowledge about the symptoms and the seriousness of overdosing from alcohol can lead to indecision, which can be fatal.

A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, abuse, or misbehavior, by individual family members takes place on a continuing basis, leading other members of the family to perpetuate, enable, and reinforce such behaviors. Often, children grow up in dysfunctional families with the belief that such behaviors and ways of relating are "normal."

image: young lady angry about alcoholic behavior of boyfriend If you see any of the above symptoms in a person who has been drinking, the following represents some guidelines on what to do:

If someone who has been drinking heavily persists in falling asleep, waken him or her. If the person does not respond easily, it is time to call the police emergency number (911) and ask for assistance.
Roll the person on her side so she will not choke if she vomits
Do not assume that the person will "sleep it off" or would prefer not to be disturbed.
Getting the person home and in bed is not a good solution, and may actually place the drinker at risk due to the fact that he or she is no longer being observed
Be sure to tell the ambulance driver or medical personnel if you believe that other drugs were also ingested

“Eye-openers” are common during the third stage of alcoholism. That is, drinks that are taken whenever the person awakens. Eye-openers are normally taken to lessen a hangover, calm the nerves, or to quiet their feelings of remorse the drinker experiences after a period of
time without a drink.

The basic idea when experiencing a possible alcohol overdose situation is this: Do not take chances when someone's life is at stake. If you suspect that a person has alcohol poisoning or is overdosing on alcohol, get immediate medical assistance, even if the person is underage.

It must be pointed out that alcohol can also be dangerous in smaller amounts if it is used in combination with the following drugs:

Narcotic pain medications (such as codine, codine derivatives, opium, heroin, and darvocet).
Sedatives (examples include barbiturates, tranquilizers, and cannabis).
Certain anti-seizure medications (such as phenobarbital).

An overwhelming number of Americans (96%) are concerned about underage drinking; and a majority support measures that would help reduce teen drinking, such as stricter controls on alcohol sales, advertising, and promotion.

What To Do in the Event of Alcohol Overdose: Conclusion

image: doctor checking chart of alcoholic In the United States, roughly 50,000 cases of alcohol poisoning are reported each year, and approximately once per week, someone dies from this preventable medical condition. Not only this, but when combined with other drugs, legal or illegal, alcohol accounts for approximately 33% of all drug overdoses in the United States.

Understanding the symptoms and causes of a toxic reaction, and responding intelligently and appropriately to such a situation, can help avoid a fatal overdose. So when someone asks you what to do in the event of alcohol overdose, the best answer is this: "seek immediate medical assistance by calling 911."

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