Alcohol Screening - The Life You Save Could Be Your Own

I can still feel the odd sensation that my chest was tightening - slowly breaking my heart into a million little pieces.

The day started off as normal. I was rushing around my apartment trying to get ready for work when my younger sister stops by unannounced. She said she had something serious to talk about and asked me to sit down. Then she said "Krissy, Robbie is gone. He died last night."

I stared at my sister with disbelief and heartache. I heard the words she was saying, but I couldn't understand them. Was she telling me that Rob was gone? I had just talked to him two days before, how could he be gone? She told me that Rob had gone fishing with our friend Randy and after spending the day drinking and fishing, they decided to drive home late instead of camping out in their car. Rob was driving. Randy, who was drfting in and out of sleep, woke up for a brief moment to click his seatbelt on. Robbie didn't have his on. Rob fell asleep at the wheel and they slammed in to a telephone pole. Robbie died instantly on impact. Randy, fortunately, walked away with some broken ribs, scratches, and memories that will haunt him forever.

Rob was 19 years old and one of the best friends I’ve ever had. He was a blond haired, blue-eyed water polo player. Robbie was extremely proud of his letterman's jacket that he let me wear on cold days. His favorite music group was the Cars. He loved to sing to me "My best friend's girl friend" to remind me that I dated one of his friends and "All I Want Is You" - constantly trying to tell me that I was wrong for staying with my boyfriend and not choosing him. He wore sunglasses ALL the time. He taught me how to swim in the deep end of a pool. His family was religious and they even took me to church with them several times. Robbie struggled sometimes with depression, but I don't know if many people know that. We had long talks out in his car. Sometimes he would cry and I would cry with him. One time when he was talking crazy thoughts about suicide and that he didn't think there was really a God, I took him in to talk to my mom. After a very deep conversation about a life after death experience she had, she simply told Robbie that his parents loved him and that I loved him. Life wouldn't be the same without him. I remember it all... standing in our kitchen. All three of us crying. I think it helped Robbie to know that there is life after death, but that we are all meant to experience life while we are in it.

I write this because I want people to understand that alcohol screening and interventions, even if just a brief expression of concern, can be affective. When we were working through the implementation process for this new care gap, I found myself wondering again and again… “What if Rob had been counseled about safe alcohol consumption. Would that have made a difference?” It takes about 2 minutes to screen and perform brief intervention counseling. Two minutes. I lost one of my best friends forever because of a bad decision. I almost lost two. What would have happened if they had run in to something or someone, other than a telephone pole. Alcohol screening could help you save a life, one that might even be your own. With Rob’s death, many lives were touched and changed forever.

And just like my mom told him so many years ago... Life hasn't been the same without him.

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Alcohol Screening in Kaiser Permanente Southern California

It's been a year now since we implemented Alcohol Screening as part of our Proactive Office Encounter program.  It's simple really... our staff ask our patient's if they've ever had more than 4 drinks (5 drinks for males) in one day in the past year.  If the patient answers "Once" or "More than once", the physician is notified so he/she can perform a secondary screening which is just asking a couple questions to make sure there aren't other issues to be concerned about.  Most often, all that's needed is a gentle reminder to the patient that consuming more than safe amounts isn't, well... safe.  In the last year we've screened over 260,000 patients.  Some of which were referred to stress management classes or addiction medicine for additional help.  Not a lot of them, but it only takes one person who's consumed too much alcohol to take the life of another.  A life that could be your own.  Be safe.


Does alcohol or substance use cause problems in your work, home, or health? If so... We can help.  Check out our KP.Org Website for more information HERE