Please help, should I take him to hospital?

[ohnopleasenotthis]

My neighbours have just knocked and told us that our 14yo son was unconscious on the ground outside our house - we rushed out and he's clearly been drinking HUGE amounts of alcohol he's wet himself, he's now regained consciousness and vomited copiously, he can't stand unaided and he's barely able to talk. Is also being quite aggressive and wont let his dad bring him into the house. Not able to tell us how much he's had or what it was.

Obviously he's in shit so deep he'll probably never get out but should we take him to hospital? DH wants to put him to bed (not sure how!) but I'm worried about choking on vomit and/or alcohol poisoning.

Oh sorry, too late. Hope he is OK.

You did the right thing in calling out an ambulance. He was unconscious, and you had no way of knowing if it was more than alcohol. Just keep a close eye on him overnight. Taking a photo to show him tomorrow is also a good idea. He probably has no idea how drunk he is and a photo will be a timely reminder.

I'd also thank your neighbour. He might have been there for hours if they hadn't told you.

I though this was one page and it is 8!

Cheese excellent reminder. My ds is suffering what we think are hypo attacks (not diabetic but has neuro issues). I've often said if I didn't know better I'd think he's pissed as that's probably a more common thing in a 14yo boy!
But the difference is he doesn't have severe vomiting which is probably the clue in most cases! He may retch a little though. (Before collapsing ina an ashes faced, very low body temp mess and if he can talk then slurring his words and not really knowing who we are)
I go nowhere with a bag of jelly babies nowadays!

Thank goodness for your neighbour telling you. It would be a lot worse if he'd stayed out there alone .

How is he now?

Recovery position, lots of towels and hope he's ok.

Missed off that you should keep checking on him / stay in same room x

, OP. Teenagers are hard work.

People saying his friends are shit... are his friends adults? Or are they children and not responsible for their peers actions. From what I read they got him home, probably scared of the reaction but they put him in a safe place he would be found. I think they did well considering he was aggressive and they are children. They could have just left him wherever it was he was drunk.

Op, I doubt ss will get involved, it happens often with teenagers judging from my youth.

I drank half a bottle of whisky at 14 and then smoked a joint, I got the whirls and vomited all night. I woke up with my head in a bucket sat up on the sofa covered in sick wondering what the fuck happened. You’re obviously a caring mum but he will be ok. Let him sleep it off. He’s going to be feeling “the shame” in the morning. Ice poles are sometimes easier to consume when you can’t keep water down the next day. And the tip upthread about towels and buckets, yes. He will probably chuck his guts during the night. Better out than in.

OP I don't think social services will be called.

Can you imagine the workload if they got called out to investigate the family of every single drunk teen?

My DS did this last year. He was13 at the time. He got very very aggressive and we couldn't get him in the car so had to ring an ambulance. After a couple of hours they rang us back and said they were too busy to attend and to give him water and toast and keep a close eye on him.

You have totally done the right thing in this situation. I hope tomorrow's hangover is bad enough to put him off doing it again!!

This has unfortunately happened to BOTH my teenage kids aged 14/15! Hope hes ok, mine were taken to A and E because they were found outside. The staff were kind but yes, we did have contact from agencies after the event. First time, no contact with Ss just a letter a couple of months later requesting my dd had a doctor check up to basically see everything was ok. When my son did the same thing 2 yrs later I had a phone call from SS checking up on us but no visit.

When DS did something like this (thought he was more unconscious than belligerent), his friends called an ambulance which had no hesitation in taking him to hospital. They put him on a drip, not to lessen his hangover but to rehydrate him after the vomiting and to prevent alcohol poisoning and liver damage. I will say in his favour that he was absolutely mortified and went out of his way to apologise to and thank the medical staff when he sobered up a bit.

Oh, and no-one from SS contacted us afterwards.

A rough night ahead for you. I wouldn’t have called an ambulance though. Recovery position, bucket, water and a whole can of whoopass ready to be opened tomorrow.

I’m a doctor and previously worked in A&E. In a situation where a drunken under-eighteen yo pitched up with at least one totally mortified parent present I generally wouldn’t contact social work (with the obvious proviso that a drunken 10 yo is an entirely different proposition than a drunken 16 yo). The ones we tended to refer were those where either neither parent could be bothered to attend, or ones where there were other concerning features (e.g. 12 yo girl found unconscious and scantily clad in local park and mum though in attendance not at all arsed).

Jesus, that’s grim, pingu

I’m concerned about the behaviour of these “friends” who didn’t care enough about his safety to knock on your door. It’s suspicious that they were all fairly sober while your DS is passing out and wetting himself. I’ve known teens “feed” alcohol to another teen because they thought it was funny, and the kid in question has drunk it because of being vulnerable or just wanting to be liked and accepted. You need to speak to their parents and assess the quality of these relationships. At the very least these friends don’t have his back. At worst they might have done this on purpose and been using him for a laugh.

Ignore all the people yapping about wasting an ambulance. My dad died from alcohol intoxication in the middle of a pub as no one called an ambulance. Coz he was just drunk like.... By the time they realised he had stopped breathing it was too late.

Oh God, velvet

Keep checking on him, he should always be rousable from sleep with a bit of poking and prodding and a raised voice, if you think he is getting worse rather than better ring 111 for advice, if you can't rouse him then 999. Sorry, but you are all in for a long night

I did the very sale thing when I was 15 (minus the wetting self!) as did my husband. I didnt drink at all for about a year afterwards, and he didn't touch spirits for 15 years after! Could be a learning experience

@StrippingTheVelvet

can someone sleep with him.make sure he is sleeping and staying in the recovery postion.
this is not a scaremongering post but my cousins friend cam home in this state.he was found in the morning on his back having choked on his own vomit.please please just be careful.be angry tomorrow yes.but right now his body isnt in his control so just keep him safe.

as in found dead

Paramedic here 👋 don't worry about calling us out. We'd rather attend and it just be something he can sleep off than you not call in case you're "wasting our time" and something awful happen. If he feels guilty about being shirty with the crew, tell him to send some biscuits to the local ambulance station. Always appreciated! Hope he feels better soon but do call 999 again if he gets worse. We honestly don't mind checking kids over.

@StrippingTheVelvet I am so sorry, that's horrendous

He's fast asleep now on a futon downstairs, we are both checking his breathing and his position regularly and he hasn't vomited for over an hour now. Will wake him up and give him water in a bit. I am angry, but I am much more relieved and still a bit shaken, it was awful seeing him lying there in the rain completely out of it

Thanks for all the advice. I do think the ambulance was a bit of a panic reaction on my part but I was so scared. If we get a SS visit we will just have to invite them in, make tea and be straight with them.