Abstract
Many drowning victims have alcohol in their blood, but it is not clear whether there is a causal relationship. This study examined the effect of moderate alcohol consumption on the initial responses to cold water immersion. Sixteen subjects wearing swimming costumes undertook two, 3-min head-out seated immersions in water at 15 °C. One hour before immersion, subjects drank either 3.7 ml · kg body water–1 of 40% v:v alcohol as vodka, or an equivalent volume of water (control) mixed with squash. On immersion, the average blood alcohol concentration was 23 mmol · l–1 (105 mg · 100 ml–1) after alcohol consumption and zero in the control condition. Respiratory frequency in the first 20 s of immersion was found to be reduced (P
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 279-281 |
| Number of pages | 3 |
| Journal | European Journal of Applied Physiology |
| Volume | 75 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1997 |