Years of drinking can cause big changes
and make drying out dangerous
| By Scott R. Snyder, BS, NREMT-P, Sean M. Kivlehan, MD,
MPH, NREMT-P, & Kevin T. Collopy, BA, FP-C, CCEMT-P,
NREMT-P, WEMT
To take the CE test that accompanies this article and receive 1 hour of CE credit accredited by
CECBEMS, go online to www.rapidce.com. Test costs $6.95. Questions? E-mail editor@EMSWorld.com.
This CE activity is approved by
EMS World, an organization
accredited by the Continuing
Education Coordinating
Board for Emergency Medical
Services (CECBEMS), for 1 CEU.
OBJECTIVES
• Review definitions of alcohol
abuse
• Discuss symptoms of
ethanol withdrawal
• Review withdrawal
management
CONTINUING EDUCATION
Withdrawal and the
Chronic Alcohol
Abuser
62-year-old male presents at Sunnyside Nursing Home's subacute
rehabilitation center supine in bed, agitated, with an altered mental
status. The staff reports he suffered a stroke while asleep at home
three days prior. He'd awakened with left-sided weakness and a
facial droop and called 9-1-1. The exact time of onset of symp-
toms could not be identifed, so he was not a candidate for tPA
therapy. A CT scan was positive for ischemic stroke, and he was discharged
24 hours later to the Sunnyside Nursing Home for rehabilitation.
44 APRIL 2014 | EMSWORLD.com
EMS_44-51_CEArticle,Index0414.indd 44 3/14/14 8:55 AM