I rarely bother to spend much time asking "how much did you drink?" when someone has visible alcohol poisoning. Usually they 1) don't know, 2) are too far gone to tell me, or 3) lie. In fact, more usually, it's all three. People don't know that the Big Gulp cup of vodka and coke they just drank doesn't equal "one or two drinks" but in fact maybe 8, 10, 12 depending on just how free a hand they had when pouring (or when someone poured it for them.) So trying to assess for detail other than "did you take anything ELSE?" is generally a waste of time, IME. (Asking others around them may be useful, though.)
I taught my alcohol education classes to look for the following:
1) Uncontrollable vomiting. Not being sick once or twice and then stopping; being repeatedly sick, to the point where the stomach is empty, particularly if blood or bile is thrown up. The body is trying to rid itself of a poison that is no longer in the digestive tract, but in the bloodstream, yet the vomiting reflex keeps getting triggered.
2) Loss of consciousness, or "passing out." Not someone saying "I'm so drunk, I'm going to go pass out" - that's called "falling asleep while drunk." Losing consciousness to the point that the person can't be awakened. Slipping into unconsciousness while in mid-conversation or mid-perambulation, or in the middle of a raging party, or to the point where they urinate on themselves. Being "out cold" or lapsing in and out of consciousness.
3) Skin changes - skin that is cold and clammy when the person is in a warm environment (blood vessels are constricted, brain's temperature regulation mechanisms may be suppressed). Skin that is blue, gray, white, or purple, and for dark-skinned folks, mucous membranes in the eyes or mouth that are white rather than pink (heart may not be pumping sufficiently to distribute oxygen; respiration may not be sufficient to oxygenate blood).
4) Breathing problems - breathing that is raspy, labored, choking, gasping. More than 8 seconds between breaths or fewer than 8 breaths per minute. Also, a conscious person reports feeling like they "can't get any breath" or like "someone is standing on my chest" (heart rate may be too low to move enough oxygenated blood.)
I told students if you see #1 or #2, be very concerned, and take steps to make sure the person doesn't get sicker (lay them on their left side to keep the airway clear and support circulation, have someone with them at all times to observe for further changes, don't attempt to give anything by mouth or put them in a shower or any other "folk remedies".) And if you see #3 or #4, call 911 immediately, even if the person is conscious. In case of any doubt, or lack of two or more competent people to manage the situation, call 911 for help.
I've already sent in my vote by mail, as I habitually vote absentee in order to avoid the potential hassles of voting in person and to make sure my vote, at least, has a paper trail.
But I think I may plan to fill my trunk up with bottles of water and fruit or cookies, then drive around to my neighborhood polling station and any others I can find, to offer to people if there are the kind of record-breaking lines that have been hinted at. I lived in Denver in 2006 during the nightmarish election mentioned in #75, and though most people managed to stick it out through the hours-long waits, some had restless children, health problems, or just a failure of nerve and went home without casting their ballots.
I'd like to make sure I do my piece to ensure that doesn't happen this time.
It has been observed to me that there are actually two narratives out there right now:
1) If Obama loses, black people will run amok (see above).
2) If Obama wins, black people will run amok (see also: the various "Obama isn't good for whites" opinions videotaped outside McCain rallies in the past couple of weeks).
My comment: Well if black people running amok is inevitable, then why don't white people just lie back and enjoy it?
Maybe we'll be calling for "that marvelous ape" after it's all over.
A long time ago, in a kitchen far, far away...
It is a period of civil war.
A thoughtless roommate, striking
from behind her locked bedroom door, has won
her first victory against
the forces of communal living.
During the night, the roommate
managed to steal the last of the produce,
the ultimate cold stone fruit,
the DAMSON,
a plum with enough sweetness
to destroy common courtesy.
Pursued by the plums'
breakfast-less owner, "Princess"
Leia turns up her music,
burying the pits deeper in her trashcan
to save face and restore
an uneasy, passive-aggressive
peace to the household...
I don't know that Denver did much better:
http://modchen.com/news/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=153&blogId=1
http://brownfemipower.com/archives/2866
Bruce:
I have a class on feminist therapy that begins on Monday, July 7th.
In the next day or two, I was thinking of sending my students some links to online discussions of sex and gender for them to read prior to the first class, so they would come in primed to discuss what their take is on contemporary feminism. Having access to a selection of Violet Blue's posts might have been helpful.
You can send my credit to my username at gmail.
I swear, the mouldering corpse of Johnny Cash is, even now, clawing his way out of its coffin so he can lead a shambling army of undead, June at his side and the Tenessee Three at his back, straight to Texas to throttle that man and his pack of loathsome hyenas with a guitar string for daring to trade upon the life and image of a man who championed underdogs in order to advance their cause of the wealthy elite.
Alton Brown did an episode of "Good Eats" on turkey frying this year. It contains a very simple, effective, and frightening demonstration of how a turkey with ice or water still inside can cause a fryer to boil over, catch the oil on fire, and turn into a shooting pillar of flame ten to twelve feet high that just will not go out, all in about five seconds.
It also contains instructions for building a turkey derrick, for safer frying, and many, many explicit admonitions about where and how to do so (and their converse warnings).
A tidbit that interested me: the UL has never certified a turkey fryer, due to concerns about safety.
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