mattparadise

Seeing as how alcohol has been around for a very long time, I would have assumed that health care professionals would be more knowledgeable regarding the BAC ranges that could show up in a blood sample.

On my second to last ER visit, the nurse told me the following.
“Your blood sample showed 0.45 BAC. This means that your blood was over 40% alcohol.”
Had I been sober, I would have given him a math lesson. Scary to think this guy was taking care of me that night. Hope he calculated my drip correctly.

Anyone else run into a situation like this???

Elisabeth888

I was under the impression that that was what it means.

.45 is pretty darn high.

Scolova

This calculator is probably flawed, but try putting in ~roughly how much you drank and see what BAC comes up:

Blood Alcohol Calculator Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself

Terminally Unique

A 0.45 BAC means that 0.45% — not 45% — of your blood, by volume, is alcohol. In other words, 9/20th of 1%, or 0.0045, which is 9 parts per 2000.

Similarly, a BAC of 0.10 means that 0.10% (one tenth of one percent), or one part per 1000, of a person's blood, by volume, is alcohol.

Taking5

Yes at .45 BAC many people die. There have been a few recorded cases where the BAC is greater than 1% and the person lived.

mattparadise

Thank you.

Zebra1275

If your BAC was truly .45 I don't think you would remember any conversation you had.

FT

If your BAC is being measured, what led up to that?

Paddyb

Hi Peeps

May i ask what a 12 oz beer is in uk terms? we have 330 mils bottles and 440 mils cans, are pints are 568, just using the link

Cheers

Paddyb

nvrbeentospain

It is pretty damn high. In most states, 0.08 is the limit for DUIs and equals out to about 4 drinks in an hour for most folks. Lots of people are dead at .45. I'm surprised you could remember any conversations at that level. Pretty scary tolerance there.

nvrbeentospain

So 12 oz is 355 ml, making a 12 oz somewhere in between your two can sizes. A pint is about 16 oz to give a comparison of how much bigger it is. Not that I didn't count a pint (and sometimes an imperial pint) as one drink.

Taking5

Also keep in mind that American beers are much weaker than european beers.

EmeraldRose

According to that chart, I entered what I normally would drink in beers, wine or shots and everytime my keys were taken away. Hmm...that could detect a problem with my drinking.

I don't know anything about the BAC or % but it's scary to think a health professional could steer you wrong. That's a law suite waiting to happen.

Impurrfect

When I was a nurse, a 0.08 would show up as "80" on our tests. TBH, I can't tell you what the ratio of blood volume to alcohol was, but I can assure you, I've seen people die with 0.45 (which would have been 450 on our tests). I've also seen people walk around the ER, with that level, having just been stopped by the cops because they were going the wrong way on the interstate.

Some people have a high tolerance, for a while, but those very same people often die at a lower level because their liver just can't process the alcohol any more.

TBH, I'd be more concerned about my BAC, if it was that high, than the nurse's computation. Trust me, I knew how to treat the symptoms, it didn't matter what the level was, and most nurses are the same way.

Hugs and prayers,

Amy

Paddyb

thank you the beer i was drinking was 5% vol, what would a standard beer be over the pond?

PB

Dee74

hope this helps Paddy

Alcohol unit calculator

US beers I've drunk over the years were generally 2-3.5%

I always reasoned if I had to wonder too much about my intake, I was probably in trouble

D

Taking5

3% - 5% for the garden variety bud, miller or coors product. The smaller breweries sell stronger stuff. I honestly thought European brews were a lot stronger than that.

sugarbear1

if you drank daily, .45 would indicate high tolerance.

I took a roommate to the hospital who was a vodka drinker. he was .61 and standing & telling jokes. the staff had never seen anyone at .61 who wasn't dead, let aloone functioning well.

I found 20 empty gallon containers of vodka & 1 full one. once slightly better the next day, he walked 10 miles back to our (my) apartment seeking that 1 bottle (i had dumped).

that medical staff told me 61% of his blood was alcohol. his tolerance was out there & I wasn't going t ok f ok nd a dead man in my apartment.

he was told if he drank again, he'd die. last I saw, he was sober, but that was years ago. his dad & step mom died of alcoholism.

sugarbear1

"to find" a dead man

he hadn't eaten or left his room to go to work.

.61 or anything higher than the "appointed DWI or DUI levels are serious for a body. imo

RV GTO

.61% is incredible

Did a bit of googling and it seems the record is 1.48%, which I cannot even begin to comprehend.