Listerine-osis

tallaght01

I was brushing me teeth today (and it's not even a public holiday). When I was finished I was using the mouthwash, and my mind began to wander back to a few years to when I was a paediatric SHO in a particularly rough area of Glasgow.
I got called to A+E as a standy for an "imminent status epilepticus" (seizures that won't stop-very serious condition) that was on his way into us by ambulance. So, an 11 year old kid rolls in, fitting like a fish. Looked in a bad way. Took a while to stop the seizures, but he made a decent recovery. So, I was chatting to his mate after the action and he told me what had happened.
The 2 boys had decided to start drinking for the first time. They got their hands on a bottle of jack daniels and took it to the local field. One guy had a swig of the stuff and called it a day. So, his mate called him a poofter, and proceeded to drink his half of the bottle!!!
As a pair of resourceful organised chaps, they had brought a bottle of mouthwash with them, so their folks wouldn't know they'd been boozing!LOL Guy number 1, who was more or less sober, washed his mouth out with it. But his mate told him that you need to drink it, coz some of the smell of booze "comes from your stomach". So, whilst he's downing the JD, he's also knocing back shots of listerine!!!
Unsurpisingly, he eventually keels over and his mate called the ambulance.

So, half a bottle of JD and a quarter bottle of listerine at 11 years of age. ONly in Glasgow :P

No idea why I created this thread, but I think in hindsight it was quite amusing, as he made a full recovery and high-5'ed me on his way home with his embarrassed parents :P

r3nu4l

Brilliant!
It's funny how ignorance can get you in trouble. I remember years ago in school one of the lads had to have his stomach pumped because his friend told him that for every shot of booze you took you should also take a paracetomol to stave off a hangover. Hospital!

Needless to say on the Monday morning we had a doctor at school assembley informing us of the dangers of both alcohol and paracetomol...

/He had his stomach pumped and is still alive so I guess the liver is as versatile as they say...:rolleyes:

Jimoslimos

Alls well that ends well I suppose

Reminds me of a poster about hand gels in hospitals I saw at a conference recently. Some alco had got his hands on a full bottle of hand gel (700mls @ 70%) mixed it with a little OJ and proceeded to drink the lot. Even the presence of Bitrex in the gel was no deterrant:eek:

tallaght01

when I did adult medicine in glasgow, we always had adult inpatients who were't allowed alcogel beside their bed as they would always try to drink it. Particularly during the night they would sometimes neck half the container before they were spotted!

I once got called to a patient who was running riot on the ward coz he was in the DTs. He actually used the alcohol gel as a weapon. So anytime we'd approach him to try to restrain him, he'd squirt it at us. By the following morning I smelled like I'd spent the night getting tanked up!!

wheresthebeef

i thought that alcogel was specially denatured ethanol and didn't produce intoxicating effects in the expected manner???? like it kills germs, but doesn't make you drunk. yes no??

tallaght01

I have no idea. Sure smells like alcohol though!!! And the old boys loved it!! :P

Jimoslimos

wheresthebeef wrote:

i thought that alcogel was specially denatured ethanol and didn't produce intoxicating effects in the expected manner???? like it kills germs, but doesn't make you drunk. yes no??

Well yes it is denatured (as is listerine btw), by the addition of substances to make it toxic and undrinkable. Methanol being the usual one. This also helps to avoid taxation as an alcoholic beverage. It will however produce intoxicating effects in those sturdy enough to try it, along with a host of ill side-effects. I think some of the additives in denatured alcohol have the purpose of inducing vomiting and sickness so medical help can be got before any long-term damage is done

tallaght01

A few of our homeless guys took to drinking Brasso a few years back, as the booze was having zero effect on them. Did this particular fashion ever reach Ireland?

faceman

at least his breath smelled fresh when you treated him!

i thought with stuff like brasso a chemical was added as a deterrent to stop people drinkin it. (one of which made you go blind?)