Safe levels of alcohol

[Guest guest]

I wasn't gonna enter in to this one, because I KNOW that for me, this is a

hot button issue. I spent years as a paramedic. I won't even go in any

details of how many countless accidents I went to where alcohol played a

factor. Wish you could see some of these memories thru my eyes. But

anyway.

>For one individual on this list, it appears to be alcohol. I posted a

>question about drinking, and was greeted with an emotional rant about

>drinking and driving. This is analogous to someone posting a question

about

>intercourse, and then getting an angry e-mail preaching on the evils of

>pedophilia.

As a vicitim of sexual abuse, I would say it IS the same. In a very

different way. In both cases, most often, it is the innocent victim that

suffers life long (or sometimes life ENDING) consequences.

It is NEVER okay to drink and drive, surgery or no surgery. And I think it

does a huge wrong to everyone when we teach teenagers how to calculate how

much is safe. Because, again, " oh, I felt fine " . It is NEVER okay.

Do I think this based on some emotion? You betcha. Nightmares I still have

after 15 years of some really horrible crashes, one that happened right in

front of me while our ambulance was parked on a side street. Another that

was an off duty sherrif - killed his passenger, and took us & the fire

department 50 minutes to pry him out of what was left of his SUV that was

literally wrapped around a pole, 6 feet off the ground. They had stopped

for " a few beers " after work.

Want me to go on? The kid that was mowed down on a bike, because some had a

drink with lunch? Oh- only one glass of wine?

It is NEVER okay. I happen to think that anyone stopped with any alcohol or

reflex impairing drugs in their system should be shot thru the head at the

scene. No tickets, no whining " but I thought it would be okay " . Nope. But

that isn't likely to happen.

Do I think it would be useful to put offenders in ambulances, make them ride

along on New Year's Eve? I think there aren't enough available seats in the

country for the change that would evoke.

I am glad that no one was hurt in this incident. By all means, spread the

word.

NEVER DRINK AND DRIVE.

dee