This is actually an event that occurred while I was a student at The George Washington University in Washington, DC:
Four of my under-age sorority sisters (including my real sister) came over to find out if I knew of any parties that were going on. I told them that I heard of a party happening at a local fraternity house. Two sisters went over there while the other two waited with me as I got ready. After about twenty minutes, we headed over to meet our other two sisters. As soon as we got there, one sister decided that she needed to go to the bathroom, so she disappeared upstairs. After ten minutes or so, I noticed that she hadn’t returned to the main floor, so I headed upstairs to check on her. When I knocked on the door, no one answered inside. I knocked again, and still received no answer. I tried to push the door open, but she had collapsed in front of it.
I was terrified. I pushed the door open enough to wedge my way into the bathroom. She had been vomiting. I woke her up, and she vomited again. I cracked the door open and noticed a brother in the hallway. I directed him to call 911 and to get one of the brothers that was a friend of mine into the bathroom with me. She tried to stand up, then collapsed again, pulling down a shelf above the toilet (thus ripping a hole in the wall) and hitting her head on the tank. Before she passed out again, she said, “I have Cystic Fibrosis, and I’m on medication.
As soon as my friend got into the bathroom, we lifted her up and carried her outside. She threw up twice all over his leather jacket, then began choking on her own vomit. He was an EMT in England, and (luckily) knew exactly what to to. We had to keep her warm, as it was snowing outside. I wound up taking off my jacket and shirt and wrapping them around her along with other shirts and jackets that were thrown my way. I knelt in the snow in my bra with her head in my lap turned to the side, should she need to vomit again, as a group of people stood around us and watched. My friend tried to keep her conscious. My sisters were hysterical crying and the fraternity brothers tried their best to calm them down.
Finally, UPD arrived. We carried her into the little van they sent, and I rode with her to the hospital. At the hospital, I had to tell everything to the attending doctor. What did happen, though? She didn’t drink anything at my place nor at the fraternity party. However, I later learned that she and another under-aged friend drained a bottle of vodka in her own room. On top of all that, she was on FIFTEEN different types of medication for her cystic fibrosis.
Her blood alcohol level was 0.14. Since I was the only one that was over 21, I was held responsible for everything. I had to be questioned by judicial services. The fraternity where we went was nearly put on probation, until I insisted that there was absolutely NO drinking going on there. (Which, believe it or not, there wasn’t.) There were repercussions with my sorority, too.
What did the girl learn from all of this? Nothing, in my opinion. The following weekend she went out drinking again. I, on the other hand, learned a very hard lesson: If you’re going to drink, know when to say when. I’m sorry to sound like a stupid commercial or whatever, but it is SO the truth. Don’t drink if you’re on medication. That’s just stupid. Everyone knows about drug interactions with alcohol. And, if you’re over 21, be smart about drinking with minors. Not only is it illegal, it’s just plain dumb. Look at the hassle it caused me, and she wasn’t even drinking in my presence.
What if she died? What if there was an accident that involved more people? What if something had happened to my real sister? What if my EMT friend wasn’t there? These are questions that I’d rather not think about, because I just don’t want to know the answer.
Alcohol abuse comes in many shapes and forms. It’s not something that should be taken lightly. There are too many alcohol-related deaths across the country at colleges and universities. So, if you’re going to drink, drink responsibly.
