I keep mentioning BAL's

Thanks for the question Reece.

Hey Taz,

You mention BrAlc in a number of your posts.

Do you do the analysis on road or does the ED do it or perhaps on scene coppers.

I'd love to have a brethaliser at some jobs but in my service its a no no - yet its more common for my patients to get a BrAlc tube when they get into ED than it is for them to get an ETT tube - my thought are if they can why can't we..

Interested to hear what you do

No we don't have a breath analyser in the kit.

Our small non major trauma hospital in the middle of the city does however.

They receive a lot of drunks on the party nights of the week as well as alcoholics off the street at any time and while a BGL will dismiss a hypo as the cause of the apparent intoxication, what they blow will assist in what level of treatment they get. That is, a bed or can they sit in a normal chair to sober up.

One of our major trauma centres did until very recently insist that all intoxicated pts get a bed and then wondered why they had ambulance crews lining up out the wazoo due to no beds for really medically sick pts and this still happens when some of the less progressive staff are on.

My local or nearest hospital have the ability to triage the level of intoxication from experience and what indicators I've supplied about the pts ability and use their waiting room and cheap vinal recliner chairs in a corner of the department with great success.

To help out my nursing staff (at any hospital) I'll take a set of obs on their machine for their triage notes, I'll take bloods without being asked and at that one hospital I'll also get the pt to 'blow in the bag', it can be as funny as hell and it gives me a figure for you.





See you at the big One.


Taz