First aid for alcohol poisoning

First aid for alcohol poisoning helps to avoid not only the consequences of significant intoxication, but save the life of the victim. At the same time, a person who has a chronic stage of the course of alcoholism does not always become a victim of poisoning. Sometimes the victim is the one whose body simply does not tolerate alcohol-containing drinks, or he unknowingly used surrogate alcohol.

In all these cases, the sooner medical care is provided, the higher the chances of a successful recovery without a number of side effects. It is especially difficult for doctors in situations where it is necessary to help a patient with obvious signs of combined poisoning. We are talking about mixing alcoholic beverages with sleeping pills or general sedatives. In such situations, the likelihood of a fatal outcome is significantly increased if you do not have time to help at home in time. But even if the victim was saved from the most unfortunate development of the scenario, there are always risks of developing coma, anaphylactic shock due to an allergic reaction to the components of dangerous content.

The latter aspect is more characteristic of intoxication with surrogates.

Primary symptomatology

Schematically, all alarming signs can be divided into primary and secondary. The last option is suitable for situations where the first manifestations were ignored, or not properly blocked.

The early stage of deterioration often goes unnoticed by others due to what is taken for granted when alcohol-containing components influence the human body. It is difficult to detect it even in those who try alcohol for the first time, not to mention drunkards with many years of experience who are able to take lethal doses.

The first typical signal of an approaching severe intoxication is a painful gleam in the eyes, which is similar to the state when the patient has become a victim of the flu or a cold. Often it is additionally accompanied by bursting small vessels in the eye, which ends with the so-called “bull look”.

Further, the body begins to signal a gradually deteriorating state of health with increased activity of the sebaceous and sweat glands. Outwardly, this is expressed in profuse sweating and the effect of “cold sweat”. Against this background, the victim develops a fever, trembling of the limbs, accompanied by chills.

If at first the victim showed excessive gaiety or aggressive behavior, then at the stage of poisoning it is replaced by drowsiness, lethargy, general depression and fatigue.

A little later, the system of the gastric tract reacts, as evidenced by:

• nausea;
• vomiting;
• pain syndrome in the abdomen;
• chair destabilization.

Often the vomit is bilious, indicating a much more serious lesion.

Other symptoms include:

• dizziness;
• loss of consciousness;
• respiratory failure;
• increased salivation;
• tearing without obvious reasons for this;
• muscle weakness;
• limitation of motor activity.

Despite the stereotype that all of the above is normal, doctors recommend not to ignore such symptoms. In a severe form of primary symptoms, the patient may develop paralysis of the respiratory center or complete shutdown of the motor center.

Often alcoholics and those who overestimated their abilities die due to cardiac arrest in an alcoholic coma simply because they were not provided with first aid in time. Surrounding people simply considered dangerous signals a common occurrence.

But even with a relatively mild degree of poisoning, it is worth seeking help from specialists. More severe forms of damage will have to be treated in a hospital department. The victim must be taken there by an ambulance.

According to an identical scheme, it is worth acting if there is poisoning with nicotine, products with a high content of it, or simply suspected intoxication. First of all, you need to seek specialized help, and then provide assistance at the scene.

Alcoholic coma

In most cases, the first signs of an approaching dangerous state go unnoticed, or are noted by others too late, which provokes a transition to the next stage in the development of a classic alcoholic coma.

It is much easier to recognize it, because the symptoms present are much more pronounced. It is she who is the penultimate stage before the onset of death, so the provision of assistance here should be carried out as efficiently and quickly as possible.

It will be impossible to help the victim in such a scenario on his own, without mandatory hospitalization and resuscitation. It will only turn out to slow down the process a little until the doctors arrive at the scene.

The standard indicators that a coma has already begun are called:

• temperature fluctuations;
• the skin becomes cold and sticky;
• the tone of muscle tissue is disturbed;
• vascular collapse.

A mandatory item is a disorder of the respiratory system. When breathing slows down, the pulse still remains quickened, and the pupils of the victim are dilated.

During this phase, vomiting intensifies. Here it is very important to have time to shift the victim on his side and fix the tongue in order to prevent it from sinking. With the departure of abundant vomit, you need to be near the patient all the time. When unconscious, a person can suffocate due to the remnants of vomit entering the respiratory tract.

A significant deterioration in well-being is accompanied by spontaneous defecation.

First aid

Regardless of the skills of others and the degree of damage to the patient, the first thing to do when threatening symptoms are detected is to call an ambulance team. Only after that, you can begin to take measures to relieve anxiety symptoms and alleviate well-being.

While waiting for the arrival of experts, the first thing to do is to take care of high-quality gastric lavage. To do this, you will have to induce vomiting artificially, if the masses do not depart naturally. But such attempts are prohibited if the victim is unconscious.

The flushing algorithm is as follows:

• prepare about two liters of boiled water at room temperature;
• give the prepared drink to the patient with the obligatory control that he drinks the specified amount in several doses within 10-15 minutes;
• press the back of the spoon or just with a clean finger on the root of the tongue, which will provoke a gag reflex.

So that help is not in vain due to an attack of suffocation, it is necessary to lay the victim in advance in such a way as to be able to turn his head to one side. Only in this way will it be possible to block at least partially the spread of toxins throughout the body with the bloodstream and slow down the onset of a pre-comatose state.

It is recommended to add a few crystals of manganese to boiled water. But then you will have to carefully monitor their concentration in the liquid, which should turn into a light pinkish tint. Before giving the solution to drink, it will first need to be filtered through several layers of gauze.

If crystals that have not completely dissolved fall into an inflamed stomach, they will only aggravate the situation. Against this background, many are limited to just warm water, as they do not have time to engage in lengthy preparatory activities.

Gastric lavage is allowed to be carried out several times according to an identical scheme until the consumed water begins to drain instead of vomit.

If the victim is in a clear consciousness, then after washing, he is prescribed a plentiful drink to restore the water and electrolyte balance. But in case of respiratory disorders and problems with the swallowing reflex, it is better to abandon this point in the plan due to the high risks of suffocation.

When all of the above helped only for a short period of time, and yet respiratory arrest occurred, then resuscitation measures cannot be dispensed with. To do this, first, the victim’s mouth is cleaned of vomit and artificial respiration is performed.

With frequent failures in fainting, an effective principle of help will be to follow the following instructions:

• ensuring immediate blood flow to the vessels located in the brain (position with the head end of the bed lowered);
• rubbing of the ears.

After the victim regains consciousness, you can proceed to additional measures of assistance. It is about wrapping him in a warm blanket. Due to the fact that alcohol dilates blood vessels, the heat transfer of the body increases. To control the temperature regime, you will need to maintain a normal temperature due to a blanket, jacket, warm woolen things.

Sometimes, after stopping breathing, the cardiac muscle stops, which obliges those around it to stimulate it artificially with the help of chest compressions.

With a lack of skills for such a serious manipulation, you will need to massage the tip of the nose, the area under it and under the lower lip. These are biologically active points, the irritation of which works as a stimulator of cardiac activity.

It is equally important to ensure that the poisoned person has a constant supply of oxygen. To do this, it is taken out into the fresh air, the tightening parts of the clothing are loosened.

Usually, by this time, doctors have time to arrive, who will redirect the patient to the hospital. There, the medical staff will take care of the extensive cleansing of the body from the remaining toxins.

Also, the patient will receive assistance to restore the destabilized activity of internal organs. If necessary, to conduct an extended detoxification, the victim is sent to the intensive care unit.

The impact of the surrogate on the body

Despite the fact that the mechanism of first aid for alcohol overdose and the use of surrogates remains almost the same, their symptoms may differ.

Some experts even believe that surrogate drinking causes more serious harm to the body than an overdose of high-quality alcohol-containing drinks. The reason for such a statement lies in the many related components, with their own spectrum of action on internal organs and tissues.

Surrogates include not only low-quality vodka or underground fakes of elite alcohol. Here you can enter various medicinal tinctures and other pharmaceutical preparations that are not intended for abundant libations or internal use.

Also dangerous are household chemicals like windshield wipers, perfumes, and even moonshine made at home. The latter contains too many fusel oils even when cleaned with activated carbon. They cause irreparable harm to almost every system of the body.

The main difference between a surrogate and a proven industrial product is the excess of the maximum allowable methanol norm. Here, even with timely assistance, high risks of death remain due to the general serious condition. The patient has to face a number of typical complications caused by irreversible processes. Most often it is blindness and various abnormalities in the work of the cardiovascular system, as well as damage to the liver and kidneys.

In order not to become a victim of extensive intoxication, you need to know exactly your measure and not drink any alcoholic beverages on an empty stomach. If a person knows exactly about the time of the upcoming feast with a drink, it is worth taking activated charcoal in advance. Weight is taken as the basis, which allows you to calculate the correct number of tablets, based on the indicated instructions for the medicine.

If you can’t do without drinking at a celebration, then it’s better to spend money on high-quality alcohol in order to avoid buying a surrogate. You should also refuse to drink alcohol-containing liquids with carbonated drinks. Due to carbon dioxide bubbles, the absorption of toxins from ethanol, methanol will be an order of magnitude faster.

Another golden rule is not to reduce the strength and combine different types of alcohol in one go. Together, this will help maintain health, as well as serve as a factor that reduces the negative consequences of overdose and poisoning.

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