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Tag: intoxication

  • Young People Less Likely To Seek Help For Alcohol Problems

    According to the What’s Up In Your World survey, nine per cent of young people feel they needed help for alcohol problems. Unfortunately only one third of these people actually go out and seek help.

    Professor Maree Teesson from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre has been studying why young people are struggling with problem drinking and it seems most young people although they recognise the need for help, wont actually ask for help.

    According to Teesson, it usually takes 18 years from when someone starts having problems with alcohol to seeking treatment.

    Professor Teesson says there’s a stigma around alcohol and only the really brave young people will actually seek help.

    She said another problem is that people don’t feel like things will work for them if they go and seek help.

    The survey also found young people are drinking less than they were a year ago, but when they do drink, they’re doing so to get drunk.

    Find out more at http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/young-people-unlikely-to-get-help-for-problem-drinking/10063122

  • Sydney Bar’s Appalling Treatment of Intoxicated Patrons

    In the ultimate example of how not to treat a patron, staff of a Sydney CBD restaurant served 2 women 8 shots each in less than 40 minutes and when one of them passed out, they dumped them in the street.

    The Korean restaurant in Sussex Street was fined after the incident according to the Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority.

    The 2 women collapsed and became unconscious as a result of 16 soju shots between them.

    When they were dumped on the footpath outside the restaurant one of the women was vomiting.

    Patrolling police noticed people gathered around the women and called an ambulance.

    The authority said it was one of the worst incidents of liquor law breaches in NSW in recent years.

    This is a clear example of blatantly ignoring responsible service of alcohol requirements.

    The licensee has been issued a first strike under the state’s Three Strikes disciplinary scheme. The restaurant was also fined $2200.

    Source: https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/news/drunk-unconscious-and-dumped-in-city-street-bar-fined/news-story/e47714ee1cb06df994da92913c677280

  • .15 Alcohol Level equals Intoxication

    Under the NSW government proposed new one-punch laws, people with a blood alcohol level of 0.15 will be found “intoxicated” – this is the equivalent of people charged with high-range drink driving offences.

    Under Premier Barry O’Farrell’s Crimes and Other Legislation Amendment (Assault and Intoxication) Bill 2014, intoxication will be defined as a blood alcohol concentration of .15. The amendment was tabled last week Thursday and is three times the level used to measure low-range drink driving offences (.05). The bill is expected to be passed by the Parliament soon with the support of the Labour opposition.

    According to O’Farrell the bill is intended to bring about safety on the state’s streets with its new measures which are aimed at combating drug and alcohol fuelled violence.

    O’Farrell was quoted as saying about the amendment:

    “The NSW government has heard the community’s call for action. We are committed to continuing to address the drug and alcohol-fuelled attacks on our street and the increase in violence that is used in those attacks.”

    The bill says that there will be a “conclusive presumption of intoxication if the accused has more than .15 concentration of alcohol following a breath or blood sample analysis”.

    Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/bill-to-combat-brawl-deaths-sets-bloodalcohol-level-at-15-for-intoxication-20140130-31oh9.html#ixzz2slbYAtNA

    The measures do not set any limits for drugs which means that any level of drugs found in a person’s system may indicate intoxication.

    Perhaps one of the more controversial of the government’s alcohol violence measures is the introduction of a minimum mandatory sentence of eight years and a maximum penalty of 25 years in jail for an assault causing death if the assault is committed by an “intoxicated” perpetrator, under the influence of either drugs or alcohol. For those perpetrators who aren’t intoxicated a 20 year maximum penalty will apply for assaulting a person resulting in their death. Also whether the victims die from the injuries received during the assault or hitting the ground etc, the same will apply.

    Alex Wodak, the emeritus consultant for the Alcohol and Drug Service at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney said the 0.15 blood alcohol level was the same level at which drivers are charged with high range drunk driving. The following excerpt is taken from Smh.com.au and quotes Wodak about the new measures:

    “That comes from a huge body of research into blood alcohol and risk of a car crash. But this figure has been plucked out of the air,” Dr Wodak said.

    “There is no research on the link between blood-alcohol concentration and violence.

    “Some will be unconscious at this blood level and most will be very drunk.

    “But some drinking, say, three bottles of wine per day might be little affected by it.”

    Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/bill-to-combat-brawl-deaths-sets-bloodalcohol-level-at-15-for-intoxication-20140130-31oh9.html#ixzz2slbYAtNA

    According to Dr Wodak, the risk of these new laws is that some people have higher alcohol tolerance levels than others and these people may be found guilty when they are innocent. Dr Wodak said that high blood alcohol concentration levels aren’t always linked to violent crimes.

    According to the proposed law a breath test must be taken within 2 hours of the alleged offence and blood and urine samples can only be required within 4 hours after the alleged offence.

  • Responsible Alcohol Service Update: Learn how to recognise Signs of Intoxication

    1. Look at the patrons physical characteristics such as the speed which they walk or speak. Consider their size and gender in proportion to how much they drank. Women have a lower tolerance than men.
    2. Be on the look-out for the customer’s inhibitions to become lowered. They will usually display signs of louder talking, more sociable and talkative, outgoing beyond what is normal for them
    3. Often intoxicated patrons will behave in a way that is unlike their normal behaviour such as using bad language, being louder than usual, becoming overly flirtatious and displaying generally poor judgement.
    4. You could also observe their physical appearance because their eyes may become red and bloodshot, their speech slurred or may even display signs of being forgetful. Talking slowly or moving slowly is also a sign.
    5. A common sign is showing lack of coordination that causes stumbling, swaying, falling down, dropping glasses etc.
    6. The person may stink of alcohol and be sweating more than normal.

    By watching out for early signs, bartenders, waitrons and other alcohol service staff can prevent customers getting to the stage of over intoxication which is usually when it becomes a problem.

     

  • Qantas Pilot Attempts to Fly Intoxicated

    I came across an article recently which I found interesting and thought was worth sharing. We so often hear of drivers drinking and driving and the damages they cause, but we seldom hear of airplane pilots drinking and flying.
     

    While airplane pilots, like truck and bus drivers have a lower legal Blood alcohol limit than normal drivers, the pilot in this story failed to stick to the 0.02 BAC limit as prescribed by law. The female pilot was attempting to fly from Sydney to Brisbane, endangering the lives of dozens of passengers. Thankfully the cabin crew were alert and noticed the pilots intoxication before a tragedy occurred.
     

    This post on Safetowork.com.au describes the case involving the Qantas airline pilot who was suspended for drinking and flying.
     

    This is what the post had to say:
     

    Qantas has suspended a pilot for attempting to fly while under the influence of alcohol, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) says.
     

    CASA spokesman Peter Gibson said the woman exceeded the limit for pilots of 0.02% alcohol in the blood in a test last week, as reported in local and international media outlets (ABC News – US, NBC, the Montreal Gazette, Jakarta Post and others, through Associated Press newswires).
     

    Gibson said he did not know the pilot’s blood-alcohol reading.
     

    The pilot was stopped last Monday as she was about to fly a Boeing 767-300 from Sydney to Brisbane, according to newswires.
     

    According to a report in the Examiner, flight attendants had suspected that the pilot was impaired, and reported the situation to the carrier’s operations centre just after the plane was pushed back from the gate and was taxiing toward take-off.
     

    Since September 2008, random alcohol and drug tests have been part of aviation safety regulations for pilots flying both domestic and international routes.
     

    A blood-alcohol content of less than 0.02% is set as the limit for pilots. Tests for other drugs including cocaine, cannabis, amphetamines and opioids, were also brought in 2008 under an overhaul of aviation safety standards.
     

    Source: http://www.safetowork.com.au/news/qantas-suspends-pilot-for-exceeding-alcohol-limit

     

    The reason why alcohol is dangerous when operating vehicles and heavy machinery is because it impairs our normal functioning so drastically. As people drink alcohol, most of it is absorbed into their bloodstream however a large percentage is absorbed from the small intestine, while the rest is absorbed from the stomach.  This is why its effect on a person is largely based on a person’s last meal.
     

    Many different brain functions are affected by alcohol but they are affected in different ways and in a certain order.  Therefore a person’s BAC (blood alcohol content) must be at various levels to affect various systems.
     

    The cerebral cortex is the highest order centre in the brain and since high order centres are affected by alcohol faster than lower order centres the cerebral cortex is mostly affected by alcohol.
     

    The limbic system is the next area of the brain that is affected by alcohol consumption. This area controls emotional states, which is why people who are drunk are often aggressive, angry or overly emotional.  Also, when alcohol affects the limbic system it can cause some memory loss which we have experienced in so many drinkers.
     

    The cerebellum is the area of the brain that controls motor function.  That is why one key test for testing how intoxicated a person is, is to touch one’s finger to one’s nose.  If the cerebellum has been impaired by alcohol, such movements are nearly impossible. The cerebellum controls both motor control and balance which is why drinkers often become “tipsy” and walk in an unusual manner.
     

    The medulla is the part of the brain often called the brain stem.  This is the centre for automatic body functions.  When this part of the brain is affected by alcohol a person can become unconscious and pass out. In extreme cases the person can even die. The alcohol could drop their body temperature dangerously and even cause them to stop breathing or cause their heart to stop pumping blood properly or stop pumping blood altogether.
     

    Although we have concentrated on alcohol’s effect on the brain, it also affects other parts. It can irritate the stomach and cause vomiting. It can also cause an overly acidic stomach. Muscle aches are common during hangovers. That is why a pilot who attempts to fly an aircraft while intoxicated is so baffling. Why a person would endanger not only their own life but that of a large number of innocent passengers is what makes this case even more bizarre.
     

    Posted by Peter Cutforth