Calling an ambulance for excessive drinking and falling down the stairs?

[LaChatte]

AIBU in thinking if you find someone you know at the bottom of a flight of stairs, conscious but pretty much incoherent and extremely drunk, and that they tell you they fell down the stairs, you phone for an ambulance, bearing in mind you don't know if they lost consciousness or not, and that if they vomit it might be because of the alcohol.

I really don't blame her, it wasn't her fault, it was his. I just can't get my head round why she didn't call. Hindsight is such a bitch.

Sadly I've know two people who fell down the stairs and both broke their necks. So yes I'd call an ambulance even if they were drunk.

So sorry :( It seems unlikely as he was semi conscious when she found him that she was able to move him without his assistance . That and the fact he was talking may have falsely reassured her that he was ok. Maybe he even told her not to fuss. I'm sure things will become clearer in time but that won't help your ds to come to terms with this tragic accident.

I'm sorry for your loss. A very similar situation happened to my sil (she was in the same position as xp). She has never forgiven herself, please don't blame your woman, it wasn't her fault. My sil has never been the same, she is haunted

Would you still all say that, if being in a drunken heap was the norm for him?
He could have hurt himself in all sorts of ways; falling, drug combinations, vomiting and internal bleeds...
You'd call an ambulance every week? For months?
Or would you sigh, say 'FFS not again' and put him in the recovery position.
As the OP said, hindsight is a wonderful thing, 20:20 usually.

When someone close dies unexpectedly, it's normal to be consumed with what if type thoughts. I think because calling an ambulance is the most obvious what if scenario, it's understandable that you're stuck on that. But you know that there was no malice, no cruel intent. It was one of those horrible things that sometimes happen. Try not to be too hard on the XP. I'm so sorry this has happened.

I truly would, Dust. Whether I'd want to distance myself from a person who regularly put themselves in danger is another matter, but if I was there, yes, I'd go with worst case scenario every time and act accordingly.

She'll always carry that regret with her, but if she'd has the slightest inclination that all would not be well then she'd have called.

Alcoholics wet themselves. He was talking as he said he'd fallen down the stairs.

It's a terrible accident and a terrible shame, but ultimately the biggest what if, is what if he'd not been an alcoholic.

Being drunk isn't a crime and doesn't make somebody less worthy of medical attention.

I would absolutely call if they appeared to need one. While it might turn out to be not be that serious, in turn it could be very serious! They might not be aware of injuries, or unable to explain what happened. Also, drunkenness might mask symptoms of injuries, they could even have a serious head injury!

While the nhs is stretched, it is still what they are there for, to provide medical treatment!

I replied without reading the entire thread. Terribly sorry to hear what happened.

He still might have died even if she had called.

Oh jesus OP. My mum is a alcoholic and I have to say, I'm bored of finding her in a heap somewhere with a laceration to her head or whatever.

If she's bleeding loads (she's got some clotting thing due to fucking her liver up the arse about fifteen years ago) I might take her to hospital myself otherwise I'll take a photo (that I'll never send to her), put her in the recovery position and shut the dogs out. She'll wake up soon enough and take some tramadol which will turn her into a fairy godmother for a few hours.

It has occurred to me that she might die but then it's also occurred to me that that wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen to her so...

I understand that lots of burns wards are full of alcoholics, no surprise, she's a cunting liability.

I'm so sorry for your loss and for DSs, it will be so very hard for you not to want to say something to his partner but tbh, you probably couldn't say anything that would make her feel worse than she feels right now.

So sorry for your loss

I am also amazed that there has been no post mortem though. I would have thought it relevant to know exactly the cause of death - it could have been several things - head injury, heart attack, drugs/alcohol, choking even perhaps hypothermia if he was sat out overnight with a lot of alcohol on board. I'm not trying to be deliberately macabre but knowing exactly how he died might have answered some questions about whether calling an ambulance would have made a difference to the outcome.

again.

Also if the death was due to natural causes that would imply it wasn't as a direct result of the fall down the stairs - otherwise it would be an accidental death.

Did she often find him drunk and semi coherent?

Because her actions read like someone who has dealt with it all before.

Not her fault.

I'm sorry for yours and your son's loss. It isn't XP fault though, with hindsight she will regret not calling anyone for the rest of her life. It is his own for his excessive drinking. I an sorry for that too. So many lives blighted by drink in this country.

Also, if it was a head injury, people can often seem fine and it is not until later that the damage becomes obvious so maybe he seemed okay.

I think if she has constantly found him in a heap somewhere and he was talking to her and able to walk then no I don't think its that unusual for her not to the ambulance. I'm not sure I would have done if it had been a regular thing and I'm a nurse. Living with an alcoholic is a bloody nightmare and they tend to fall over a lot.

Sorry for your DS though.

Oh and all unexpected deaths have a PM. His was definitely unexpected despite the fact he was a drunk plus there is only her word to say what happened.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/Post-mortem/Pages/Introduction.aspx

He falls into the sudden unexpected area as it was death caused by an accident.

camping I'm also surprised as to the lack of pm.

I'm very surprised at the lack of a pm too. A member of our family is a coroner's officer and he regularly gets involved with unexpected deaths in very similar circumstances to those described here.

Also, my dm's body was discovered about 4 days after she had died. Despite her age (85) and having recently seen her doctor, she still met the criteria of a sudden unexpected death that needed investigating and a pm was ordered immediately.

Are you in the uk? Sorry, but I just can't believe there won't be a pm under the circumstances.

I would imagine Lachatte is in France? There would definitely be a PM in the UK in those circumstances, there could be all sorts of reasons why he died not related to the fall and they could not be determined at the scene.