DON'TS:
- For safety reasons, DON'T leave the person alone.
- DO NOT LET THE PERSON DRIVE OR BIKE.
- DON'T give any drugs of medication (not even aspirin) to try to sober her/him.
- DON'T give coffee, tea, or other liquid stimulants youšll just have a wide-awake, agitated drunk person.
- DON'T give the person a cold shower. She/he could fall, or the shock could make the person pass out.
- DON'T try to exercise the person in the hopes of "burning off the booze". This will not help and could cause injuries.
- DON'T "play doctor". If there is any question about the person's health or safety,* call Public Safety at x800 (they will send SCEMS (Smith College Emergency Medical Services), or an officer, or ambulance as medically appropriate).
DO: KNOW THE SYMPTOMS OF ALCOHOL POISONING
- Person is unconscious or semi-conscious and cannot be awakened.
- Cold, clammy, pale or bluish skin.
- Slow breathing. Often less than eight times per minute, or irregular, with ten seconds or more between breaths.
- Vomiting while "sleeping" or passed out, and not waking up after vomiting.
- While these are obvious signs of alcohol poisoning, the list is not inclusive.
If a person has any of these symptoms, she or he is suffering from acute alcohol and needs immediate medical care.
Other intoxication symptoms may also necessitate medical care; if you think there may be reason to worry, call Public Safety.
DO: THE RIGHT (AND CARING) THING...
Get help call Public Safety at x800 (24 hour #)... or ask your HR to call.
Meanwhile, do not leave the person alone. Turn the person on her/his side to prevent choking in case of vomiting.
Always be "better safe than sorry" if you are not sure what to do. How can your friend be angry at you for caring about her/him?
*Alcohol poisoning is not the only risk... A person who has had too much to drink is at greater risk for falling down stairs, drinking and driving, engaging in unprotected sex, etc.
Adapted from Harvard University's "Do's and Don'ts", BACCHUS' "Alcohol Poisoning Pamphlet", and NCADD's "Drinking Too Much Too Fast."
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