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The Sweeney Test helps those professionals who deal with blacked out people... People in a blackout are potentially lethal, a danger to themselves and all others. They walk but have no idea where they are going, talk but do not know what they say, drive without destination. Alcohol has blocked memory formation, abruptly and all at once. Loss of memory formation takes away self-awareness and with it their higher order consciousness. All manner of bizarre acts may follow, all unintended and unknown to the blacked out person. If they have a violent streak, they are a serious menace. The depth of the problem is that they do not realize it—nor does anyone else. Until now. Recent research and new understanding of blackouts makes it possible to recognize blackouts while they occur. In The Alcohol Blackout, Dr. Sweeney provides a simple test of short term memory to identify them. The test is also described in Cries from the Abyss. Recognizing a blackout is important for family and friends and absolutely essential for professionals dealing with blackouts on a first response basis. Bartenders, who may be penalized if they serve alcohol to drunken persons, must realize some people can black out on very little alcohol, perhaps only a couple of glasses of wine. Bartenders need to be able to suspect a blackout and how to test for it. |
Police Officers and Highway Patrolmen routinely encounter blackouts, but do not realize it. Such persons may not appear drunk. Talking may seem coherent. They do not stagger. They may even pass the Breathalyzer test. Yet, it is possible for them to have stopped memory formation and be unconscious. With the Sweeney Test, it is now possible for police officers to detect the person in a blackout, so he may be restrained from driving, wandering off and getting into harm. Hopefully the test will one day be standardized and administered routinely like the Breathalyzer test. In Cries from the Abyss Dr. Sweeney suggests how police can handle the blacked out suspect. . Blacked out people often injure themselves and end up in hospital emergency rooms. Paramedics and Emergency Room Workers can now, using the Sweeney test, recognize the blackout and treat the patients as the incapacitated persons they are. If they fail to recognize the blackout and release the person to have an accident or commit a crime, they may be liable for a civil action. Public Health and School Nurses, Social Workers, and Alcohol Treatment Personnel must learn to identify blacked out persons and treat them as the unconscious people they are. Only when the true nature of blackouts is understood can help be offered. Most importantly, recognizing the blackout while it occurs will permit research into this serious public health problem to resume. There is no longer a need to wait until persons come out of the blackout to learn they were in one. They can now be identified and studied while incapacitated. |
© 2008 Mnemosyne Press