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Empire Builder passenger death ruled accidental
Being an ex-police officer, I believe that with a Blood Alcohol Concentration of .37 the deceased was lucky to still be alive. BAC’s of over .32 will, in unseasoned drinkers cause death, or total incapacitation of most bodily systems. I agree with the sheriff’s office assessment.
Being an ex-police officer, I believe that with a Blood Alcohol Concentration of .37 the deceased was lucky to still be alive. BAC’s of over .32 will, in unseasoned drinkers cause death, or total incapacitation of most bodily systems. I agree with the sheriff’s office assessment.
With all due respect to the unfortunate deceased, this conjures up in my mind the train journey from Alfred Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest.”
Once he opened the door it would be easy to understand that he could have lost balance or simply lost consciousness at that level of intoxication.
Odd. Unlike the Dutch doors of old, the Builder’s bi-level cars (AT&SF-type) have electronically controlled doors that random passengers can’t manipulate, much less a guy with a .37 BAC.
Who served this guy all this booze? Did he do it in Russian
style and just get on the train drunk with his own booze?
How long waa he on the train time wise before he was known
missing.
In 1987 I was traveling a lot by Amtrak on the Empire Builder
between St. Paul and Glenview, Il. The Amtrak crews in those
days took the train from Milhwaukee to St. Cloud. The conductor on the train one evening returning to St. Cloud and I had our regular conversation going on. And he told me that
after he got home one night after his run, he got a call from
Amtrak and the home road at that time (Milwaukee Road).
It appears someone landed face down in Mauston. Amtrak
does not stop there. Someone must have helped this guy
out the dutch door. End of story and it is true.
P
How does a man that drunk who does not know what he is doing open a door to begin with? The railraod is at fault for serving him too much too drink and not properly securing an unlocked door.
While on a train, individuals that are under the influence of alcohol should not be given or sold more alcohol to consume.
How does one become so intoxicated in such a short time,Fargo to Glyndon is like 6 miles and another 10 miles to Hawley.Was Number 8 so tardy the lad was boozing it up on Broadway Ave waiting??
Regretfully a mistake made by ones own hand. Someboby served him expensive drinks or he brought his own poison and consumed it in a semi public setting. I guess society is lucky he was not able to get keys and get on a highway and compound the situation. Happens everyday,everywhere. I’m convinced intemprence is a sickness.
To counter the former police officer, humbly, I am a doctor in the ED (or A&E, or casualty, as it is known in Commonwealth countries), board certified (so not just some guy slumming). Although 0.37 is high, in itself that is not a lethal BAC. That is taught to be 0.50. However, there is a more common thing to see now in the “500 Club” - a BAC 0.50 (500/1000), and “walking and talking”. There was a fellow in eastern Europe who lived with a BAC over 700. So, I can see this guy as drunk, but doing something that got him killed, instead of the drink proper killing him. There is simply not enough information here.
Again, someone places the blame onto the supplier of liquor. If a bartender tries to cut off a patron, the bartender is faced with an unruly patron and a bad scene, with a few more drunks complaining. However, I would think it is in the interest of all if Amtrak puts in a two drink limit per passenger for a set time, as the airlines do. Dealing with a drunk on a crowded train is a problem for both the crew and the passengers. I saw one very nasty scene on a trip from Portland to Seattle where a inebriated passenger decided to assault a women because of the noise of overactive kids, (the kids were noisy but not excessively so.) Personally that drunk should have been turned over to the Railroad cops, or local police. In times past, the railroads used to put these problems off the train in the middle of nowhere, but I guess they can’t do that any more. Once. I did see an Amtrak crew turn one drunk over to a couple of paramedics as a “sick” person in need of aid. (I wonder what the local hospital did with that patient.)
I got on that train rather tipsy in the late '80s after drinking at the Empire bar, which was perhaps a block west from the Fargo station (is it still there?) The crew kept an eye on me until at least St. Cloud.
Michael, Stephen, you assume he was drinking alcohol served by Amtrak, It’s entirely possible brought his own supply with him. Alternatively, if somebody else were buying drinks for him, the server would not necessarily be aware of how much he’d had to drink and his condition.
If you take on the privelege of drinking alchohol, you take on the responsibility of your own well-being. It’s not Amtrak’s job to babysit you while you drink.