Alcohol and the emergency service patient.
To determine the prevalence of alcohol use in casualty patients breath-alcohol analysis was performed on 702 patients attending the accident and emergency department of a large teaching hospital during the evening. Forty per cent of patients had consumed alcohol before attending and 32% had a blood alcohol concentration exceeding 17.4 mmol/l (80 mg/100 ml). Clinical assessment of intoxication resulted in a false-negative diagnosis in 10% of inebriated patients, indicating that an objective measurement of the blood alcohol concentration by a test, such as breath-alcohol analysis, may be of additional value. These findings confirm that a high proportion of emergency-service patients are affected by alcohol and suggest that alcoholism treatment facilities need to be integrated with accident and emergency services.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000097:blood; D001944:Breath Tests; D003243:Consciousness; D004632:Emergency Medical Services; D000431:Ethanol / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012923:Social Class; D013997:Time Factors
D000431:Ethanol