This month, local, state and national proponents are teaming up for National Alcohol Awareness Month.
Pontiac Osteopathic Hospital Medical Center ? Clarkston sees many cases of injuries due to alcohol use and abuse and says this month is designed to bring a realization of how alcohol can impact lives.
“I see a lot of accidents more into the summer months,” said Emergency Room Staff Physician Dr. Michael Doyle. “Around graduation time and during the warmer months we get a lot of water skiing, jet skiing and boating accidents, along with a lot of burns from barbequing.”
According to Dr. Doyle, the largest percent of patients who come in with alcohol-related injuries are of the 18-24-age range.
“Generally we get a lot of younger people with binge drinking and injuries from that,” he said.
Dr. Doyle, who is also a Clarkston resident, also said that many people don’t realize the frequency of alcohol addiction in communities like Clarkston.
“It’s a lot more here than people realize,” he said. “People think it’s a downtown or a city problem, and it’s not.”
POH also hold events throughout the year in which they bring the fatal vision goggles, which are goggles that simulate intoxication, in order to show just how impaired vision and coordination becomes once intoxicated.
The Oakland County Health Division also believes in the importance in raising awareness about alcohol abuse and addiction.
“Alcohol is the number one drug problem in Oakland County,” said Kathleen Altman, Oakland County prevention coordinator. “People mistake the use of illegal drug as the biggest drug-use problem, but the use of alcohol use causes more devastation as far as broken families and lost work time. This is really our biggest drug problem and one we fail to recognize as such.”
For National Alcohol Screening Day, held this year April 6, the OCHD used to bring in screeners to aid the public in alcohol addiction screening.
“We had screeners available to talk to people and give them resources, but many people were concerned with confidentially,” Altman said.
“Now, we direct them to go online so they can screen themselves.”
Those who may be suffering from alcohol addiction can go to confidential Web site www.AlcoholScreening.org to screen themselves. The Web site then gives resources the person can use to get help with the addiction.
“We also have a PACE unit here in Oakland County, which stands for Prior Authorization and Central Evaluation,” said Altman. “What this unit can do is help someone who has a problem or suspects they have a problem and wants to seek help.”
The phone number for the PACE unit is 248-858-5200.
“They will give the person the names of licensed treatment programs in their area,” Altman said.
OCHD also recognizes the need for alcohol use prevention in the young people of communities.
“The younger an individual starts to drink, they are four to five times as likely to develop severe alcohol problems as an adult,” Altman said. “It’s a community issue. The social norms surrounding alcohol is what we have to work at changing. If your community supports underage drinking and your alcohol vendors make alcohol available to teens and make the message that it’s not that bad, then that’s a problem. Drinking delays maturity. The teen is focused on alcohol and doesn’t develop the social maturity they need to make it through. We are trying to change a social norm. That is why our emphasis as well as MCRUD’s is focused on the younger crowd. We support MCRUD.”
MCRUD, or Michigan Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking, works to prevent underage drinking by working with adults to do their part, said Ken Dail of MCRUD.
“We’re encouraging teens to reach out to adults so adults can do their part to prevent teen drinking,” he said. “Teens can’t use alcohol if an adult doesn’t supply the alcohol.”
For more information about MCRUD and events planned around Michigan, call 800-968-4968.
For more information about local events in April or for information about preventing teen drinking, contact the Clarkson Coalition for Youth by calling 248-922-3004 or visit them online at www.ClarkstonYouth.org.