Binge Drinking Linked to 4,000 Deaths Every Year

Binge drinking, defined as drinking too much alcohol too fast, has been linked to as many as 4,000 deaths every year from alcohol overdose.  Until recently, deaths by alcohol poisoning were largely unreported in the media.  Now that college campuses are required by law to publish all student deaths, people are learning more about the tragic effects of binge drinking.  Around the country, reports from victim’s families and county medical examiners confirm that alcohol can be a lethal drug.  This its particularly true for teenagers.  Of the first eight cases ever reported as alcohol poisoning, half were 16 years old or younger.  At least half were first-time drinkers and had never been drunk before.  Five of them were put to bed by friends or their own parents to “sleep it off,” only to be found dead in the morning.

Prevent a Tragedy:

Tragically, what these friends and parents didn’t know is that if a person drinks too much alcohol too quickly before falling asleep, the alcohol will shut down breathing and heart functions, killing a person within hours.  That’s due to the physiological effects of alcohol.  This suppresses nerves that control involuntary actions like breathing, heart beat, and the gag reflex.  Even after a person stops drinking, alcohol in the stomach continues to enter the bloodstream and circulate throughout the body.  That’s why binge drinking is especially dangerous.  Many victims ingest a lethal dose of alcohol before losing consciousness.  By the time they do lose consciousness, and even if friends and family rush them to a hospital, it may be too late.  Even if caught in time and the victim survives, alcohol poisoning often results in permanent brain damage.  Here’s what can happen when a person drinks too much alcohol too fast:

• Choking: the victim chokes on their own vomit
• Breathing stops: the victim's breathing becomes irregular and slows to a stop
• Heartbeat stops: the victim s heart beat becomes irregular or stops
• Hypothermia: the victim s body temperature decreases, leading to cardiac arrest
• Hypoglycemia: the victim s blood sugar level plummets and causes seizures

Here are the critical warning signs of alcohol poisoning:

• Mental confusion: the victim is in a stupor, a coma, or cannot be roused
• No response: the victim does not respond or cannot feel pinching of his/her skin
• Vomiting while sleeping
• Seizures
• Slow breathing: breathing is less than 8 breaths per minute
• Irregular breathing: there is 10 or more seconds between breaths
• Hypothermia: low body temperature, victim is pale or has bluish skin color

If you suspect that someone may have ingested a fatal dose of alcohol, call for emergency medical help immediately:

• Call 911
• Stay with the victim
• Keep the victim from choking on vomit by placing them on their side
• Tell the emergency medical technicians exactly how much alcohol the victim drank — don t guess or minimize the amount!

Prompt medical attention is the only way to save a person s life if they have consumed too much alcohol.  It can be deadly to try to reverse the effects of alcohol by drinking coffee, taking a cold bath or shower, sleeping or walking it off.