This story about ethylene glycol poisoning sent me to the wiki.
Australian doctors said they plugged a poisoned Italian tourist into a vodka drip after running out of the medicinal alcohol they would normally have used to save his life.
The 24-year-old Italian, who was not further identified, was diagnosed as having ingested a large quantity of ethylene glycol, a common ingredient in antifreeze that can cause renal failure.
Renal failure is tough. How dangerous is it? From the wikipedia:
Ethylene glycol poisoning is a medical emergency and in all cases a poison control center should be contacted or medical attention should be sought. It is highly toxic with an estimated LD100 in humans of approximately 1.4 ml/kg. However, as little as 30 milliliters (2 tablespoons) can be lethal to adults.
For a 220 lb man like me, that is around 100 kg mass, around 140 ml.
Treatment?
Initial treatment consists of stabilizing the patient and gastric decontamination. As ethylene glycol is rapidly absorbed, gastric decontamination needs to be performed soon after ingestion to be of benefit. Gastric lavage or nasogastric aspiration of gastric contents are the most common methods employed in ethylene glycol poisoning. Ipecac-induced vomiting or activated charcoal (charcoal does not adsorb glycols) are not recommended. [3]
The antidotes for ethylene glycol poisoning are ethanol or fomepizole; antidotal treatment forms the mainstay of management following ingestion. Ethanol (usually given IV as a 5 or 10% solution in 5% dextrose and water, but, also sometimes given in the form of a strong spirit such as whisky, vodka or gin) acts by competing with ethylene glycol for the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase thus limiting the formation of toxic metabolites. Fomepizole acts by inhibiting alcohol dehydrogenase, thus blocking the formation of the toxic metabolites.[6]
In addition to antidotes, hemodialysis can also be used to enhance the removal of unmetabolized ethylene glycol, as well as its metabolites from the body. Hemodialysis also has the added benefit of correcting other metabolic derangements or supporting deteriorating kidney function caused by ethylene glycol ingestion. Often both antidotal treatment and hemodialysis are used together in the treatment of poisoning.
So the hospital ran out of medicinal alcohol and switched to vodka. I’ve done the same thing myself.
How much vodka? That was the startling thing.
“The patient was drip-fed about three standard drinks an hour for three days in the intensive care unit,” he said. “The hospital’s administrators were also very understanding when we explained our reasons for buying a case of vodka.”
Three drinks an hour? For three days? Holy crap!
That is one hungover Italian.
Alive, but really, really, really hungover.