| Alcohol
and Injury
RNS, Alcohol
and Injury, December ’03
1:52
http://www.med.umich.edu/opm/newspage/2003/alcohol.htm
Don’t let holiday
reveling take a wrong turn with alcohol misuse
(Download audio version)
Suggested
Lead: ‘Tis the season to be jolly,’ says a traditional
holiday carol, and for many, the holiday season is a jolly, fun
time when people’s attention turns to dinners with family
or friends, office parties and other festive get-togethers. Mixed
drinks, wine and tasty punches often contribute to the holiday revels.
Sadly, they contribute to deaths and injuries, as well. Here is
Andi McDonnell with more.
TRT 1:52
SOQ
Every year in
the United States, over 42,000 people are killed in motor vehicle
accidents. Alcohol is involved in 41 percent of all motor vehicle
crash deaths and roughly one million injuries annually.
In general,
alcohol-related crashes result in more severe injuries. Two of the
main reasons for this are that alcohol-related crashes usually occur
at higher rates of speed, and victims of these crashes are often
not wearing seatbelts. However, University of Michigan researchers
have identified another reason that these more severe injuries occur.
Dr. Ronald Maio,
(D.O.), a U-M emergency medicine physician and director of the U-M
Injury Research Center tells us
“Even
in regard to a passenger in a car that has alcohol on board, if
they are in a crash, they are at greater risk for having injuries
because of the fact that, for some reason, alcohol seems to decrease
the body’s tolerance to the energies that one is exposed
to in a crash.”
These findings
are opposite of what most people believe - that being drunk protects
a person from serious injury.
Maio adds
“Well
definitely having a designated driver is a great way, probably
the best way , to make sure that you’re going to decrease
your chances of getting involved in an alcohol-related motor vehicle
crash. The other thing that one needs to consider is, if you’re
a passenger in a car that has a designated driver and you’ve
been drinking, make sure that you buckle up. Don’t forget
to take advantages of the safety features that the car has. And
third, even if you do all those things, the fact is that if you
have alcohol in your system, and you’re in a motor vehicle
crash, your injuries are going to be worse than if you didn’t
have alcohol in your system at the time.”
Emergency medicine
physicians urge holiday party goers to think before they drink this
holiday season.
Andi McDonnell,
U-M Health System News.
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