HOW TO MANAGE

INTOXICATED
GUEST
Recognizing the Physical Signs
of Intoxication

1. Look for glassy or bloodshot eyes. A

person’s eyes can tell you a lot about him
and his mental state in a particular moment.
If his eyes are glassy and bloodshot, it could
be a sign that he's been drinking too much.
2. Notice how the person smells. While
intoxication can mean being under the
influence of several different substances, the
smell of the user can be a big giveaway for
many people.
Both alcohol and marijuana have very strong
odors that linger with the user long after the
intoxicating substance has been consumed.
Try to smell the person and see if you can
notice hints of alcohol or weed on her breath
or their clothes.
3. Watch for impaired motor
function. Intoxicated people can’t perform
normal tasks as easily as they can when
they are sober. This includes things like
walking a straight line, lighting a cigarette
properly, spilling drinks, or fumbling with
other objects.
4. Estimate the person’s
size. Although alcohol
affects everyone similarly,
the speed at which it does
so will be different based
upon these physical
characteristics. Size,
gender, the rate of
consumption, the strength
of each drink, the amount
of food and the additional
use of drugs all are to be
considered when
determining how quickly
alcohol may be affecting
someone.
 Recognizing the Behavioral
Signs of Intoxication

1. Watch for a person’s inhibitions

to become lowered.
2. Listen to the volume of the
person's voice.
3. Notice if the person slurs his
speech. Slurred speech is almost always a
sure sign of intoxication. If you notice a person
(your child, your customer, or anyone really) is
slurring their words together, especially to the
point where it is difficult to interpret exactly
what they he is saying, it is may be a sign of
intoxication.
4. Pay attention to what the person
says. If a person is being combative with
her words, speaking more slowly than usual,
or repeating herself a lot, these could be
signs of intoxication.
5. Observe how the person interacts with
others. As he becomes increasingly
intoxicated, a person will progress through
the stages of poor judgment.
6. Interpret the person's mood. People
who are intoxicated often have wide mood
swings —being happy and laughing one
second, then crying and belligerent a few
minutes later. If her mood seems more
exaggerated than normal (on either end of
the spectrum), she might be intoxicated.
7. Look for clues in other modes of
communication. Sometimes it’s important
to be able to determine if someone is
intoxicated even if you are not in the same
room with him.
8. Consider alcohol tolerance. Remember
that it's possible for people to develop a
tolerance for alcohol, but that doesn't mean
that they are not legally intoxicated. It just
means that visual recognition is more
difficult.
 Helping Someone Who is
Intoxicated
1. Try to get the person to stop
drinking. Once people drinking alcohol
begin to show signs of physical impairment,
first get him to stop drinking any more
alcohol.
• To get someone to stop drinking, try
talking to him calmly as his friend. Tell him
that you think he may have had too much
to drink and that you are worried, so it
would make you feel better if he would quit
drinking for the night.
• If he refuses to quit drinking, consider
taking more drastic measures. If you are in
a bar, tell the bartender that you think the
intoxicated person has been drinking too
much and ask the bartender to quit serving
him alcohol.
2. Keep her company. If a person shows a
loss of motor control or function, or poor
coordination, she must not be left alone as she
could become a danger to themselves or
others. Stumbling or swaying, having difficulty
with depth perception, and dropping things
repeatedly or having difficulty picking them up
are signs that the person has progressed to this
level.
3. Get the person home. If you notice
someone is very intoxicated and he is in a
public place like a bar or restaurant, try to help
him get home so he can go to bed and sleep it
off. You can offer him a ride yourself, call a cab
for him, offer to call a friend for him, or call a
drunk ride service if one is available in your
area.
4. Prevent the person from
driving. Drinking and driving is extremely
dangerous — to the drunk driver herself and
to everyone who crosses paths with her.
5. Make sure the person is safe. People
can be a danger to themselves when they
are intoxicated. This is especially true if the
intoxicated person is well past the point of
minor drunkenness. There are many
dangers to be considered.
7. Seek medical attention if you think the
person has alcohol poisoning. Alcohol
poisoning is a very serious condition that
results from drinking more alcohol than your
body can handle. In a worst case scenario,
this can result in death. If you think someone
you know has alcohol poisoning, seek
emergency medical attention immediately.
These are some symptoms of alcohol
poisoning: