This Child Didn't Progress to Alcohol Poisoning

Sometimes parents are the last to know that a child is drinking heavily at college.  Samantha Spady died of alcohol poisoning--but it wasn't her first encounter with heavy drinking.  The child in this story didn't die, but had a chance to evaluate her own drinking and make changes.

(previous posts: Alcohol overdose: timelines, and what to do with a potential victim; start of series: Lists of Kids Dying on Campus from  Alcohol Poisoning, 2004; what you can do to change the underage drinking climate in your community; Patrick McCann's death in a drug dealing house; two sources of help: T-Dub.org, T DuB is an organization that deals with getting the message out about alcohol poisoning to teens and young adults.    B.R.A.D. is: Be Responsible About Drinking, Inc)

Crisis at college: Binge drinking Sometimes parents are last to knowBy Harold Reutter,  [email protected]

An early-morning call from a Lincoln hospital was the first time Tammi Mitchell of Grand Island learned that her daughter, Kellie, had been drinking alcohol during her first semester at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Kellie, who had been drinking the previous evening, rolled out of bed and could not be roused by her roommate, a 20-year-old nursing student.  That resulted in an ambulance ride to the hospital. Mrs. Mitchell said she and her husband then received a call from the hospital, which needed their permission to do a CAT scan and give Kellie medical treatment for her alcohol consumption.  Kellie said she had a 0.23 blood alcohol content. The legal standard for intoxication in Nebraska is 0.08.

While the phone call from the hospital was upsetting enough, Mrs. Mitchell became even more upset when she discovered that Kellie had two previous incidents when she had run afoul of either the law or university policy. Mrs. Mitchell said she wanted to talk to the newspaper two years ago but was dissuaded. "Everybody said I should let it go," she said.

But the recent death of Beatrice native Samantha Spady prompted Mrs. Mitchell to come into the newspaper and talk about her frustration in finding out what had been going on during Kellie's first semester at UNL. That has some resonance to the Spady case. Spady's body was found the evening of Monday, Sept. 6, after she had starting drinking Sunday evening and continued drinking until early Monday morning.

Spady's blood alcohol content was 0.436, which was above the 0.4 level that is considered potentially lethal. The Associated Press quoted officials in Fort Collins, Colo., where Spady was attending Colorado State University, as saying that Spady had drunk the equivalent of 30 to 40 12-ounce beers within 11 hours.

In a Sept. 10 online article written by Denver Post staff writers Amy Herdy, Kieran Nicholson and Jim Hughes, Spady family spokesman Nile Dragoo was quoted as saying, "The family is saying it is a terrible accident. She made one mistake and is paying for it."

That same article noted that photos posted to a Web site by a user identified as Spady and matching her date of birth revealed a college sophomore who often partied using alcohol. The online Denver Post article said Spady was in a dozen photos using alcohol, although it took care to say that the "photos do not prove Spady was a binge drinker."

The Denver Post article said the same Web site had photos of other students falling down or passed out.

Three instances in semester

Mrs. Mitchell said she would have liked to have been informed by university officials about the first instance when Kellie violated university alcohol policy.

Kellie said she had three instances of running into trouble because of alcohol during her first semester. She said Lincoln police cited her for minor in possession but that university officials did not know anything about that incident.  Kellie said she also was caught drinking in her dorm room.

For that violation, Kellie had to take a class, which ended up costing $55. She was fairly dismissive of the class, saying she viewed it as containing the same information she had learned in high school, middle school and even the DARE class she took in grade school.  But Linda Major, project director for NU Directions, a program designed to lower the prevalence of high-risk drinking by UNL students, defended the class.  "It was designed by the University of Washington specifically for college students," Major said. She said the class gives students an opportunity to change their drinking behavior.

For the second university violation, when she rolled out of bed, Kellie said, she had to take another class, which she felt was much more valuable. "I had to fill out a questionnaire to do a self-evaluation of my alcohol use," Kellie said. She also had a one-on-one session with a university staff member to help her do more self-analysis. As part of the follow-up to her second incident, Kellie and other students also had open discussions about their alcohol use. She said she found that effective. As part of her follow-up, Kellie also had to attend a few Alcoholics Anonymous meetings to hear other people talk about their problems with alcohol.

Mrs. Mitchell said she knew about none of this. However, she said, the cost of some of those follow-up sessions was eventually billed to her insurance.  Mrs. Mitchell finally decided to ask questions about what was happening to her daughter, she said, but was frustrated by federal privacy laws.

FERPA complicates things

Earl Hawkey, UNL registration and records director, said FERPA -- the Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act -- prohibits the university from sending even report cards to parents. At one time, FERPA also would have prevented UNL from notifying parents about violations of university alcohol policy.

Hawkey said those rules were relaxed four years ago during the reauthorization of the higher education act. That change made it possible for the university to tell parents about a student's violations of federal, state or local laws, as well violations of university policy on alcohol or controlled substances.

That change only means that UNL may notify parents, Major said, but it is not required to notify them.

UNL does not have a policy of sending out mass mailings of form letters to parents about their children's alcohol violations, Major said. She believes the University of Delaware may be the only school that routinely notifies parents about all alcohol violations.

The university tends to notify parents only if the university believes their intervention would be helpful, Major said.  Mrs. Mitchell, though, said she should have been notified about her daughter's first violation. That's especially true because she said she and her husband talked to a dorm official and asked to be notified if her daughter used alcohol. She said they received assurances they would be.

Kellie agreed that UNL might be sending out a blizzard of paper if her mom was able to change university policy. "So many kids get caught the first month," she said. At the same time, the sheer numbers make students feel as if getting caught is a "slap on the wrist."

Kellie recalled one student who was worried that the university would notify his parents of an alcohol violation. "He said his parents would stop paying his tuition."

Kellie said she brought her first-semester report card home, which allowed her mom to see she had failed a class. Mrs. Mitchell blames the drinking incidents. Kellie does not.

"I only drank on weekends," said Kellie, who studied during the week. She blamed the failing grade on the whole culture of adjusting to college and the stress she was under. Kellie said that stress did not come from getting caught drinking.

"I started working extra hours," Kellie said. She said she repaid her parents for the cost of her medical expenses and alcohol class expenses. In that respect, drinking was an indirect cause of her failing grade.  Mrs. Mitchell said she was so upset that she will never send another child to UNL.  But Kellie said she has talked to students who attend other schools, including private, church-related schools.

"I think it is the same everywhere," she said.

In all cases, my deepest condolences to family and friends.

Underage Alcohol Deaths 2004
Underage Alcohol Deaths 2005
Underage Alcohol Deaths 2006

Signs of Alcohol Poisoning

Alcohol depresses nerves that control involuntary actions such as breathing, the heartbeat and the gag reflex that prevents choking. A fatal dose of alcohol will eventually stop these functions. After the victim stops drinking, the heart keeps beating, and the alcohol in the stomach continues to enter the bloodstream and circulate through the system. The victim may experience the following:

• Mental confusion, stupor, coma, unable to rouse the person
• No response to pinching the skin
• Vomiting while sleeping or unresponsive
• Seizures
• Slowed breathing  (fewer than 8 breaths per minute)
• Irregular breathing (10 seconds or more between breaths)
• Hypothermia (low body temperature), bluish skin color, paleness

Alcohol Poisoning Requires Immediate Medical Attention

Alcohol Poisoning Cannot Be Reversed By:

• Drinking black coffee
• Taking a cold bath or shower
• Walking it off

The victim must have immediate medical attention.
Call 911, stay with the victim to prevent him choking on vomit, and tell emergency personnel how much alcohol the victim drank.

These Children Died of Alcohol Overdose, So Their Parents Started Foundations:

Taylor Webster's memorial foundation.  Taylor died of alcohol  poisoning at age 19-- Now his family and friends are working  to get the message out, telling their stories and providing  information on alcohol poisoning and the signs and symtoms  of alcohol poisoning in hopes that lives will be saved.

Bradley McCue's memorial foundation.  On November 5, 1998  Bradley turned 21. . He celebrated  his birthday in a way that has become increasingly popular, drinking "his  age in shots". That amount of alcohol was lethal and he died  that night of alcohol poisoning.

Samantha Spady's memorial foundation. A 19-year old student at Colorado State University, Spady died of alcohol poisoning on September 5, 2004, "an unintentional tragedy."  The Spadys say the SAM [Student Alcohol Management] Spady Foundation will develop peer-to-peer counseling and other services meant to reduce the risk of alcohol abuse.

Gordie Bailey's memorial foundation Mission: to provide today’s youth with the skills to navigate the dangers of alcohol, and through education and promotion of self worth prevent alcohol poisoning, binge drinking and hazing. 

Kimberly Ostien's memorial foundation: "With binge drinking on the rise, we feel it necessary to get the message out on the danger of alcohol, especially excessive alcohol consumed in a short period of time.  Students are educated on drugs and alcohol but they will continue to experiment no matter what.  We want to educate on what to do when a friend falls down or passes out from drinking.  Often we want to put that person to bed to sleep it off and that is when the trouble can begin."  The card lists the information, above.

Comments

[Bill]

All the ads on TV say that parents should talk to their kids about the drugs and alcohol, where they are going, with whom and where they are hanging around. That's pretty good advice, but it also serves to ram your head into the sand even farther than it was. Parents need to be as devious and as paranoid as their kids in order to discover and stave off problems. My son told me that he didn't mind me searching his room for drugs ... because he had done the drugs before he even got home. So, what's wrong with a surprise Friday night or Saturday night arrival on campus for a visit? Or a surreptitious visit and surveillance? The life you save may be your own child's.

[Suzanne]

As a parent of a college sophomore, I've found these reports of excessive campus drinking alarming at minimum. I am somewhat consoled by my son sharing his tales of his exposure and participation. He has learned lessons the hard way and I am grateful those lessons did not (have not yet?) led him to become a statistic. Those talks also give us the opportunity to share yet again my wisdom and guidance to surviving such situations.

While such communication helps, a parent must still rely on their student to look out for themselves and make wise decisions. How's that for an unsettling thought?

[Tammi F. Mitchell]

Its funny when I decided to put my name in the google search I really did not expect to find a touching story like this but I did and I want to commend all those concerned to keep moving forward...the sky is the limit.

Tammi F. Mitchell
Freeport, Grand Bahama
Bahamas

[Mickey]

Greeting. See things as they are and write about them. Don?t waste your creative energy trying to make things up. Even if you are writing fiction, write the things you see and know. Help me! Need information about: Name phone book. I found only this - bellsouth phone book. The web indicates a procedural quality of university to secure permanent reference for the book and to forget for any friends in books, phone book. And if you contain our sheets and throw us from making in that type, these numbers may here get these offerings themselves, but if you realize our records, we ca very freeze one of their local numbers, phone book. Thanks for the help :cool:, Mickey from Zimbabwe.