BLS transport of the ETOH patient

[nwhitney]

So someone badly screwed up an assessment. Does that mean everyone who is drunk needs full ALS and priority 1 designation?

Many cities have drunk tanks where intoxicated folks are taken to sleep off their drunk rather than to ED's. It seems to work quite well and you rarely hear about problems with people being taken to one when they should have been taken to the hospital instead. I don't think that would be the case if there were some inherent problem in under-triage of people who are simply intoxicated.

My city has a drunk tank staffed by EMT's, an Intermediate, and two paramedics. It's also where I work and the majority of the people are "just drunk". We also transport folks to the drunk tank to help keep the ambulances free.

 

[usalsfyre]

So someone badly screwed up an assessment. Does that mean everyone who is drunk needs full ALS and priority 1 designation?

No, but TO ME, making the statement "they're not a patient" implies assessment isn't being performed and documented.

Many cities have drunk tanks where intoxicated folks are taken to sleep off their drunk rather than to ED's. It seems to work quite well and you rarely hear about problems with people being taken to one when they should have been taken to the hospital instead. I don't think that would be the case if there were some inherent problem in under-triage of people who are simply intoxicated.

Correctional facilities usually have medical staff that boots even the slightest hint of "more than drunk" down the road to an ED, which is appropriate. I'm not saying drunk tanks are inappropriate.

 

[TheLocalMedic]

Here's my take: If they're too intoxicated to care for themselves and too intoxicated to go to jail (and they will typically accept REALLY intoxicated people), then they're an ALS patient. They get an ALS assessment, BG check and airway monitoring. Because yes, they are altered.

But a patient has to be really really intoxicated to warrant an ambulance ride.

If they are only mildly or moderately intoxicated but still oriented and GCS 15, then as long as they aren't causing any problems they are free to walk away. And if they're being a problem then they go to jail.

If the intoxicated patient can be deemed stable enough for BLS, then they are stable enough to go to jail and don't need an ambulance ride. We don't need more drunks clogging up hospitals and wasting ambulance rides. The jail system was designed with drunks in mind though.