Alcohol poisoning is a very serious and sometimes deadly response to drinking. It slows down the brain stem functions, especially the part of the brain responsible for breathing, heart rate, and the gag reflex.

“If [alcohol] gets to your brain stem, that’s the area of the brain that is in charge of housekeeping, breathing, heartbeat, and that’s where acute alcohol poisoning comes into play,” said Denise Denton, a drug education senior lecturer at Iowa State.

It is a normal function of the body to vomit when it senses the blood alcohol level is too high. If the gag reflex is depressed, or you are unable to throw up, then the alcohol will stay in the system, and the individual will continue absorbing more and more of the alcohol into the blood and, eventually, the brain.

“What most people don’t understand is that acute alcohol poisoning happens at a much lower level than what you would assume,” Denton said. 

“Most people know that you probably shouldn’t do your 21 shots on your 21st birthday. What they don’t understand is that you can die way before you get to the 21st shot.”

Alcohol will continue being absorbed into the blood for 30 to 45 minutes after the last beverage was consumed. 

The blood alcohol content will continue to rise even though alcohol consumption has stopped. Alcohol poisoning deaths are often caused because the blood alcohol content is so high that the brain functions controlling breathing and heart rate stops.

“You start to lose your ability to breathe efficiently in as little as three to six drinks if you do that in two to four hours,” Denton said.

On a college campus, such as Iowa State, many students think this won’t happen to them. With many students going out every weekend and drinking vast amounts of alcohol, this might be closer to reality than many students may want to believe.

“People should know, we have people in the [emergency room] for alcohol overdose on a regular basis in this town,” Denton said.

Signs and symptoms of alcohol poisoning include: confusion; hypothermia (low body temperature); pale, sometimes bluish skin; unresponsiveness but conscious (also known as a stupor); passing out; unusual breathing rhythm (long pauses between breaths); very slow breathing (less than 8 breaths per minute); and vomiting.

“Call the police,” said Sarah Holmes, residence life coordinator. “Once they’ve called the police they can also call the community adviser on call if they would like additional support. The police should be their first call if someone is in immediate danger because they will get them the help that they need.”

Community advisers go through training and courses in order to help with situations involving alcohol and over consumption.

“They go through quite a bit of training for [alcohol-related incidences]. We have a weeklong training in August,” Holmes said. “The hall directors will do ongoing training throughout the semesters with their own staffs. Then we have [community adviser] training again in January.”

Regardless of how much a friend has been drinking, one of the worst things to do is to leave the person alone if they have symptoms of alcohol poisoning.

“If somebody has been drinking and they go to sleep, you never, ever, ever leave them alone,” Denton said. “You never ever leave them on their back. You put them on their side, no pillow. First of all, see if you can wake them up. If you can’t, that’s not a good sign. … If they start throwing up … that is a sign of an overdose.”