Highest BAC levels in patients

Nurses General Nursing

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What is the highest BAC in a patient you have cared fo,r or heard about, with the person living?

My brother was killed in an MVa by a drunk driver in 1981 and I was told that she had a BAC of 4.0. I have wondered if this is possible, and if others have seen similar.

thanks,

josie

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

Usually anything over .40 induces coma, and quite possibly death, in the average person. However, some folks have VERY high tolerances.....like one of our frequent flyers, who came in a couple of months ago with a level of .72---and lived to tell the tale! :eek: Of course, being only in his 30s, he's still probably got at least another five years before his liver gives out......if he doesn't kill himself some other way before then, that is. :uhoh21:

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Whoa, .72 is very impressive!! We routinely get 'em in with BAC in the .35-.40 range. Highest I've seen to date (with just over 2 yrs ER experience) is .53, in a female. We oohed and aahhed over that one!! At our place we are oddly fascinated with high etoh levels, white cell counts and h&h values.

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

We health care providers ARE a strange breed, aren't we? At my hospital, we recently had someone in the ICU with a white count of 43,000.......another with a blood sugar of 1200......a med-surg pt. with an H&H of 3.4/13......a post-op with an INR of 8.6......and an AMI with a troponin level of 14. (All but the latter pt. made it.)

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