Jeffery W. Runge

Emergency physicians and nurses say that the December holiday season is the toughest time to work in emergency departments. Excessive use of alcohol and increased traffic bring a heavy workload of human tragedy to ERs. What should be a joyous time of year when families celebrate together turns into a time when they gather at the hospital to receive bad news, and celebration turns to mourning. It happened every December during my 20 years in the emergency department of a trauma center. My experience is multiplied by every city and town in this country. It is predictable and is therefore preventable. But does it have to be inevitable?

December is National Drunk and Drugged Driving (3D) Prevention Month. Law enforcement agencies are mobilizing across the country to combat drunk and drugged driving. Officers will conduct hundreds of sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols to get drunk and drugged drivers off our nation's highways in order to protect American families from tragedy.

Driving anywhere, anytime, under the influence of alcohol or drugs is dangerous to you, your family, other passengers and everyone else on the road. It does not matter if it is down the block or across the county; it is a risk you are taking for someone else. Drinking and driving has a lasting effect. Not getting caught reinforces the bad behavior and increases long-term risk to you and others. Getting arrested has a lasting effect on your job, your budget and your integrity. Being in a crash has long-term medical, even fatal, consequences.

Last year, 16,653 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes, and another 310,000 persons were injured. It is a staggering number of Americans killed and injured by a preventable condition. To put this in perspective, three of 10 Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash sometime. It is predictable and therefore preventable.

It is inevitable only if Americans refuse to reset the norms for the numbers of preventable deaths and injuries they will tolerate. Changing this risk means changing public attitude about driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. It is not something Americans should tolerate with a wink and a nod. If we do not want to be subject to the risk, not only attitudes, but behavioral norms must change. If we choose to drink when we party, we must designate a driver beforehand who agrees to stay sober. If we host a party, we must make it easy for our guests not to drink alcohol. Moreover, we must give our support to law enforcement to keep us safe from irresponsible drinkers.

Congress has made .08 blood alcohol concentration the national standard. Twenty-nine states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have adopted that standard as law. But any amount of alcohol impairs a driver's ability to react to emergencies, and the effects are made worse by drowsiness.

No matter how many laws are passed, the real solution to this public health crisis begins with personal responsibility - a commitment not to drive while impaired, and not to let our family members or friends drive that way. The slogan "Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Drunk" is very true. If we are smart, we will reach an expectation that our "friends" will make provisions for their safe transportation before it gets to the point of having to take someone's keys. But if you need to, please take keys, call a taxi, or offer a guest room or sofa. We have a responsibility for each other. The friend you stop from driving protects your friends, their families and people you have never met.

This holiday season, please be responsible and keep America safe. Let's keep the joy in the holidays for ourselves, for each other, and for my friends in the emergency department.