6 sleeping tablets and a 70cl bottle of tequila. That we know of.
That’s pretty bad, isn’t it? Would that amount of each be enough to kill someone – that’s their intention.

🙁

Take them to A+E – right now. Go.

Get the person to drink a glass of water with 4 tablespoons of salt in it, in one. asap.take to a+e

or leave em

Don’t ask in a forum, ask a doctor sharpish! If in doubt go to a&e right now!

Induce vomiting, don’t let them go to sleep, call 999.

Take them to A+E – right now. Go.

That.

But if they were trying to kill themselves they’d have done more tablets and you wouldn’t know what they’d taken ’til the post-mortem. Serious situation, regardless.

As above go go go go go go

I know the whole “why are you asking on a forum?” thing. This was not my first port of call. Ambulance is on the way, person is sat with a relative in the meantime.

I’m trying to build a case to justify getting a chopper out to take me home.

for some folk that’s just a warm-up before they go out on the town..

but definitely get them to a+e ASAP to be safe..

Doc here

Quit frigging around. Phone 999 now. Someone who has taken that much stuff may be heading for airway management problems soon. And they need assessment of their mental state by a professional, not you or an Internet forum.

Edit. I think you should have said that stuff in your second post in your OP.

Impossible to answer your later question without knowing a hell of a lot more.

As above, warm water, disolve salt in it, make the person down it. After vomiting, get them to A&E as fast as you can

Dont induce vomiting….. Straight to a/e do not pass go do not collect£200

You see what the 2 qualified posters have put do that, although someone already has I see. Hope they get sorted and in a better frame of mind soon.

Some serious contradictions here. Dialling 999 will get a paramedic quicker than driving to A&E.

I would have thought.

Shouldn’t be wasting time asking us 999 is the number to call
as above plenty of salted water and walk the person Must keep them walking
must not let them sleep.

Some serious contradictions here. Dialling 999 will get a paramedic quicker than driving to A&E.

I would have thought.

Depends how close you are to the nearest a&e, and also if you’re in a fit state to get the person in the car and drive them there.

As for the inducing vomiting thing, you’re not meant to do it unless the medicine warning label says so. I think it does for most sleeping pills, and it definitely is a good thing for alcohol poisoning IMO.

FFS! Don’t induce vomiting ever.

Depends how close you are to the nearest a&e

Obviously ! 🙂 Generally speaking an untrained person negotiating traffic/traffic lights/junctions/etc whilst stressed out and panicking, is not a good idea.

I would have thought.

Some serious contradictions here. Dialling 999 will get a paramedic quicker than driving to A&E.

I would have thought.
You’re right of course. It’s almost always better to phone 999 than take someone in.

On a point of technicality, I could almost certainly get someone from my house to A&E quicker than an ambulance could get here (unless it was coincidentally close when it got the call). The difference is that:
a) if someone stops breathing in my car there’s nobody and no equipiment to deal with it
b) I’m not trained to keep driving safely while a loved one is dying next to me.

As I’ve already said, this wasn’t my first port of call. My wife is dealing with the immediate, and she’s keeping me in the loop via email.

Ambulance/paramedic is quickest cos the person is in a reasonably out of the way location with no vehicles available. Wife is ~1hr away, but person’s brother is sat with person.

Sad though it is, the place I work has a very macho attitude and if I say I need to get home because of this without spelling out the very worst case scenario, I fear I’ll be told where to go and get labelled as a work-shy oik. That and the fact that it’ll cost roughly £85k (iirc) to get a special flight.

I hope whoever it is that’s gone to such lengths makes a full recovery and gets all the help they need. 🙁

Where on earth are you???

This has been a long term thing, Elf. As much as I think the NHS is great, the person simply doesn’t tick all the correct boxes when it comes to getting help. So frustrating to watch her self-destruct, yet no-one does anything other than detox her and pack her off home.

offshore?

Where on earth are you???

I’m stuck offshore. No crew change flights on a weekend for me to cadge a lift on, so it would be a chartered helicopter/medivac chopper.

Ah i see. Must be horrible for you being so far from family at a time like this, my sympathies. 🙁

Can I help? Another person to sit and wait? This isn’t news I like to hear…

on their own, almost impossible. Together, possibility. As others have said calling 999 is your best option.

Recovery position so they cannot choke on their vomit.

F*ck. Hope it goes well.

Mr Ox, I’m a nurse and very used to seeing the various states people get themselves into after overdoses.

People have hinted above that the main problem can be when you either obstruct your airway or you are sick and then inhale the vomit.

Other than that, and working from the limited info given above, 6 sleeping tablets doesn’t sound like a large amount. The combination with alcohol isn’t a good mix, but if they are ok in airway terms, the actual effect of the things they have taken should just need time to wear off.

If you need any explanations of anything passed on, post up..

Im 99% sure you will need a lot more than 6 to kill you.

I recon he will have major amnesia and sleep pretty well.

Fingers crossed for you/her

Edit: Beaten to it.

As much as I think the NHS is great, the person simply doesn’t tick all the correct boxes when it comes to getting help. So frustrating to watch her self-destruct, yet no-one does anything other than detox her and pack her off home.

Trouble is, there’s too much emphasis on treating the end results, rather than trying to seek effective early solutions which could help prevent future issues. Cure, rather than prevention, with Mental Health. It’s very sad.

As much as I think the NHS is great, the person simply doesn’t tick all the correct boxes when it comes to getting help. So frustrating to watch her self-destruct, yet no-one does anything other than detox her and pack her off home.

That’s shit 🙁 Now’s not the time the time to be critical or have debates about mental health care provisions, but as already suggested, this sounds very much like a cry for help, rather than an irreversible permanent solution. Although it doesn’t undermine the seriousness of the feelings felt by the person of course.

Let’s hope this cry for help will result in the tormented person getting just that – proper long lasting and supportive help, which is their inalienable right.

In my very limited experience once someone manages to actually get into the mental health system, the help and long term support can be really very excellent. Hopefully this will be a positive turning point in the person’s life. Good luck.

Elf, there are some people who you just can’t help, just can’t reach, who do this over and over again. It’s a massively tricky situation, and one that is not that uncommon.

Elf… What Crikey said. We don’t know the story here. But there are people who it is almost impossible for health workers to help. For instance people with drug or alcohol issues who do not want to change, people who are in destructive relationships or with severe personality disorders or chaotic behaviour patterns. And in all these situations it can be very difficult for friends or family.

Yes I’m aware of that, but I’m also aware of the fact that a lack of effective early intervention too often leads to worse problems in the future.

And it would be much better if we, as a society, were better able to identify warning signs and have the knowledge to try to help people suffering from mental health problems. And if such things were less stigmatised and feared. Ignorance is the most damaging thing, so many times.

Anyway, as Ernie sez; not the time and place for such a discussion really.

Hey, discuss away. Don’t mind your p’s & q’s on my behalf.

Wife & Pigster on the way over, DickBarton, but thanks for the offer. We’ll just have to see how this one goes. Hopefully she’ll be fine, but long term alcoholism has caused severe damage to her liver, and suicide runs in the family. Not a good situation from many angles.

Cheers for the comments and advice anyways. Now get out there and enjoy your Bonfire Night toffee apples.

I’m currently on duty in a deliberate self harm team, there is not really much point on me speculating on your friends situation, but I do hope all goes well. IME mental health support for long term/ chronic alcoholics can be pretty patchy, for a wide variety of reasons. Anyway, best finish me sarnie, saturday nights usuare usually pretty lively!

I’ve nothing constructive to add, just wanted to say I hope everything works out ok.

Hope all is going well and that she is ok

Ox i know how hard it is when your away and need to be home i do environmental survey and geo survey work and at mo floating off the west coast of greenland if i needed home right now i think it wouldn’t happen hope all pans out ok and she gets the help she needs