<p>Check your school’s policy. At my daughter’s school, the infirmary is open 24/7 with nurse on duty and is a “safe haven”. Neither drunk student or student bringing them in is penalized. The drunk student stays the night and is observed in safe environment. (I think if they show up more than 3 times they are referred for counselling.) You should not have to be responsible for know the difference between drunk, very drunk and dangerously drunk…err on the side of caution and use infirmary or RA.</p>
<p>suin - The fact that you mostly drink beer means nothing. People have passed out on beer, too.</p>
<p>A fellow-student is not a medical professional. Don’t take the obligation to determine if they are “passed out” on yourself. Contact the RA - they are trained to deal with this. D was an RA in a freshman dorm and one of the RAs was always the “designated RA” in which case, whatever the party, that RA did not drink and was around to deal with such matters.</p>
<p>Get fellow-student in trouble with RA v. possible serious medical problem. Not much of a decision to be made.</p>
<p>If you roommate is passed out and cannot be woken up, you need to put them in the recovery position and call for help. That way if they try to puke they won’t choke. </p>
<p>If they’ve just fallen asleep (as I found a lot of drunk people do) have someone help you lift your roomate into their bed. Prop them up on their side, again so they don’t choke on their puke if they try and vomit. Put their garbage bin near their head so if they do wake up they will see it. Only cover them up part way (mid chest) and make sure they stay on their side.</p>
<p>Usually drunk people who’ve fallen asleep are fine, but if they’ve passed out and can’t be woken up you need to call for help. I’m sure whoever is paying the fine or whatever will be glad they’re paying a fine, not for a funeral.</p>
<p>Check your school’s policy. A lot of colleges now have a policy of “medical amnesty” which means that students do not have to choose between seeking medical attention vs. possible disciplinary action. One of my son’s suitemates invoked “medical amnesty” the first week at school. Suitemate was rushed to the hospital & had his stomach pumped. Fortunately he is OK. </p>
<p>Freesia has good advice. The key is whether you can wake them or not. When in doubt, call 911. It’s not worth risking a life.</p>
<p>
if he’s passed out, that’s the last thing you have to worry about</p>
<p>also if you weren’t the one drinking, and he stumbles into your room and collapses, you have nothing to worry about…it would be clear that you were not inebriated</p>
<p>moral of the story:</p>
<p>Don’t drink so much alcohol that you pass out. It’s not a story you want to tell your grandkids, in fact it’s quite stupid.</p>
<p>passing out is normal after a good night. Can’t believe you guys would get an RA or call 911. That’s completely stupid.</p>
<p>But isn’t it the RAs job to get you in trouble and go around and find people drinking in their dorm rooms and write them up for drinking? I thought if they find out you will get into rilly big trouble. Thats what my big brother said.</p>
<p>So call 911 if you can’t rouse him/her and prop them up on their side? I’ve never seen a drunk person (only someone slightly tipsy) and never touch alcohol myself. Is that what a rank beginner who has no experience with alcohol do?</p>
<p>"How do you tell the difference between being passed out and alcohol poisoning?</p>
<p>If they are suffering from alcohol poisoning the person may be unconscious but cannot be awakened. If you try to wake your friend up and they do not respond check to see if they have cold, clammy, unusually pale or bluish skin. Check their breathing also.</p>
<p>If they are breathing slowly or irregularly – less than eight times a minute – or ten seconds or more between any two breaths, they are in trouble. Another sign is if they vomit while passed out and do not wake up during or after vomiting.</p>
<p>First call 9-1-1 immediately. Do not hesitate, don’t think about any legal ramifications, your friend’s life could depend on your quick response.</p>
<p>Do not leave the person alone and continue to try to revive them. Turn him or her on their side, so that if they do vomit they will be less likely to choke on it. …"</p>
<p>[Alcohol</a> Poisoning - Acute Alcohol Poisoning](<a href=“http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/college/a/aa000723a.htm]Alcohol”>Alcohol Poisoning: Symptoms, Causes, Treatments, and Prevention)</p>
<p>Passing out from drinking is not that big of a deal. It happens to everyone. There is a checklist of things you should do to make sure that they are ok.</p>
<p>1) See if they are responsive at all. Try to wake them, ask them questions (do they know who you are? what time is it? what did they do tonight? do they feel sick?) If they are responsive, chances are they are ok.
2) This is very important. Even if they are responsive, make sure they sleep on their side. This way, they will not die of asphixiation (a.k.a. they won’t choke on their own vomit :))
3) Get them some water to hydrate them. Alot of people don’t know this, but it is not alcohol itself that kills you. It is dehydration. Make sure they are properly hydrated. This will also (hopefully) save them a nasty hanover in the morning. Try to get them to eat something, too.
4) Now, if your roomate is completely unresponsive, check to see if they are breathing, of course, and check their heart rate. If it is unusually low, you might have a problem. Turn them on their side.
5) If your roomate is unresponsive AND vomiting, this is a big problem. Call an ambulance. As someone said before, if someone needs to go to the hospital for drinking to much, they are usually let off the hook for it.</p>
<p>Always use the buddy system when drinking! :)</p>
<p>that happened to me once. call 911 first! and try not to freak out</p>
<p>You should grab a permanent marker and make his face your canvas.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>No. It doesn’t. You may drink to unconsciousness and so may your friends, but everyone is not like you.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>THIS IS NOT TRUE!!! Alcohol is a depressant. In large quantities, it depresses your breathing, which, as you can imagine, is not conducive to good health. Note also that if a person drinks a lot of alcohol quickly, they keep getting drunker even when they stop drinking, even when they are unconscious.</p>
<p>Cardinal Fang’s post is correct. </p>
<p>Dudecollegeguy, Go back and review your Grade 10 health class notes.</p>
<p>Alcohol does not cause one to die of dehydration. On the other hand, the uncontrollable vomiting due to drinking too much alcohol can cause dehydration.</p>
<p>Alcohol is a depressant. It depresses the involuntary actions (nervous system) that are needed to sustain life. Breathing, gag reflex, and heart beat are all affected by alcohol. Even after one has stopped drinking for the night, the alcohol left in the stomach will continue to be released into the bloodstream.</p>
<ol>
<li> Breathing becomes shallow (and can stop)</li>
<li> Gag reflex is depressed making it very easy to choke to death. Thus, death due to
choking on one’s own vomit. The depressed gag reflex causes the vomit to block the
the airway or become aspirated into the lungs.<br></li>
<li> Heart rate increases----rapid heart rate (along with decreased breathing)</li>
<li> Can cause irreversible brain damage.</li>
</ol>
<p>Do not hesitate to call 911. Passing out is a big deal. It doesn’t happen to everyone as dudcollegeguy suggests. This type of nonchalant attitude is exactly what led to the death of Lucifer11287 (the CC poster who died of alcohol poisoning–NSM mentioned this story earlier in the thread).</p>
<p>But if you go to the hospital will they call your parents?And how long do they make you stay in the hospital?</p>
<p>Drag em to the nearest frat house</p>
<p>If you are 18 years old or older, they will not call your parents without your consent.
You will have to stay in the hospital until they feel that you are physically stable. This could be a matter of a few hours or a few days. It depends on the physical state of the patient.</p>
<p>I always wonder why people drink so much. It doesnt look like its fun, but maybe it depends on what you are drinking. I saw this guy in the city geting out of his car and he was drinking a 40.</p>
<p>Did you ever see the utube vids where they are drawing all over dudes who passed out with perminent markers. Do dudes go to class with stuff written on their face? If that hapened to me i would pretend i was sick and not go to class.</p>