| But Mr Mike Johnston stressed management of such patients did not involve stomach pumping, a threat sometimes made by parents and carers trying to steer teenagers away from alcohol.
“We do not pump stomachs,” said Mr Johnston. “Nobody has pumped stomachs for years. It is not a treatment for alcohol poisoning.
“Firstly, there is no evidence it does any good. Secondly, some people have this idea it somehow teaches a lesson. That is complete nonsense. They are so out of it they don’t remember anything.”
The medical term for stomach pumping is gastric levage.
“We have not performed gastric levage for alcohol poisoning for…. I would think you are talking a good 15 or 20 years.”
Mr Johnston outlined the “important aspects” of the management of young people with acute alcohol poisoning, which principally involves regular monitoring to check they do not harm themselves before sobering up.
“First of all, we have to make sure they are safe from the point of view of not being at risk of vomiting and thereby inhaling their own vomit.
“If their parents are not able to look after them, they may need admitted to hospital to be nursed properly on their side and making sure the airways are protected.”
He said there were two other risks to children suffering acute alcohol poisoning. At this time of year there was a risk of hypothermia. Mr Johnston said children who fell down drunk and were left lying in a gutter or alleyway would cool down “very quickly”. A further risk was that they could become hypoglycaemic.
“Children are very susceptible to lowering blood sugar as an effect of alcohol. They become hypoglycaemic very quickly and very easily.”
Mr Johnston said those caring for children with alcohol poisoning had to ensure there were no associated head injuries “as a result of their misdemeanours”.
Having said all that, Mr Johnston said he was keen to “de-emphasise” the issue. He was unaware of a child or adolescent acutely ill with alcohol poisoning who required to be looked after at Ninewells over the festive season.
“From speaking to my colleagues, it’s not been a big problem.”
Asked what was the youngest person treated for alcohol poisoning in recent times, Mr Johnston said, “I don’t think we have had anyone much younger than 13. It is not usual. We are not seeing a huge number of these children coming through our doors.”
However, evidence from reports appears to reveal a culture of regular drinking among a significant proportion of children in Dundee.
In 2002 a national survey of pupils in second and third years at Scottish secondary schools revealed that in Dundee, 14% of 13-year-olds usually drank alcohol once a week or more. In the same survey, 36% of 13-year-olds claimed they had been drunk, with 8% of them claiming they had consumed five or more drinks on the same occasion on four or more occasions in one month. |
