You can wipe out life, career for $10

  • Published
  • By Col. Gary Lane
  • 5th Maintenance Group commander
MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. (AFPN) --  With the holiday season upon us, we need to plan our holiday parties and gatherings wisely.

Did you know that for $10 or less, you can be under the influence of alcohol within 1 hour?

A 180-pound person who drinks as little as 2.75 ounces of alcohol -- three 12-ounce beers, three glasses of wine or two mixed drinks -- in one hour registers a .05 blood-alcohol content. The person’s BAC will escalate to .10 percent if he or she continues to drink as little as 5.5 ounces of alcohol -- five beers, five glasses of wine or four mixed drinks.

Most mixed drinks contain more than one ounce of alcohol. The effect of alcohol varies from person to person. This can be due to their individual tolerances, amount of food in their stomach and any type of medication in their system.

Is your life worth only $10? Is your family worth only $10? Is your career worth only $10? Think about it. For as little as $10, you can drink 5.5 ounces of alcohol, wipe out your life, your family’s lives and your career. In addition, if you are lucky enough to be alive, you may carry a felony record and the knowledge you may have killed or severely injured someone with you the rest of your life.

This scenario can change and not be pure gloom and doom. If you plan on drinking, plan on taking a designated driver who will absolutely abstain from drinking alcohol. If you find yourself in a situation where you have been drinking and don’t have a designated driver, call a friend or a member of your squadron. If you can’t find someone you know to drive you home, call a cab.

No one can fault you if you attempt to get someone sober to drive you home. But don’t use this as a crutch to continuously call someone out because you didn’t plan ahead.

I know of no supervisor, first sergeant or commander who will not give you a ride home without reprisal if you have been drinking. There is nothing as heartwrenching as an officer showing up at your family’s home at 3 a.m. to tell them that you were killed in an accident because you were drinking and driving. I know, I’ve had to make this very notification to a family in the mountains of West Virginia.

Hosts and friends also play a very important role during holiday parties. You are responsible for ensuring your guests and friends get home safely. Don’t leave this important role to chance. Your friend may be injured or killed. Would you be able to look at yourself in the mirror if that happened? What would you say to yourself at the hospital or funeral? Would you say to that person’s family, “I could have stopped them from driving, but I chose not to?”

We spend a lot of time on-duty practicing self-aid and buddy-care. Don’t we owe it to ourselves, our families and friends to use this off duty? Remember the old adage, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” We don’t need the “cure” aspect of these programs, but we need the prevention.

Hosts, ensure you have plenty of food and non-alcoholic beverages available from the beginning to the end of the party. Suggest food and non-alcoholic beverages to your guests at least two hours before the end of your party. Stop serving alcohol at the two-hour point and push the food and soft drinks.

The only thing that counteracts the effect of alcohol is time. The more time without alcoholic beverages, the better chances are to reduce your guests’ blood alcohol content. Take your guests’ keys if you have to, because friends don’t let friends drive drunk.

The best present hosts can provide to a friend or family member this year is to keep them alive and prevent them from getting behind the wheel with alcohol in their system. Remember to act responsibly during this wonderful time of year, and don’t be caught dead drinking and driving. Have a very happy holiday season.