SPD encourages residents to have a great and safe holiday season

With the holiday season comes holiday office parties, gatherings of family, friends and colleagues to enjoy each other’s company and in many cases, a few holiday spirits. 

The Sheridan Police Department encourages residents to take part in the festivities. They are asking folks to safely remember their limits and make plans to get home safely. 

During an appearance on Sheridan Media’s Public Pulse, Sheridan Police Department Captain Tom Ringley informed the public on a few of the dangers from over consuming alcohol. 

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, initially, alcohol may appear to act as a stimulant, so those who drink may feel upbeat and excited. But alcohol decreases inhibitions and judgment and can lead to reckless decisions.

As people consume more alcohol, reaction times get longer, behavior becomes poorly controlled and sometimes even aggressive—leading to fights and other types of violence. Continued drinking causes the slurred speech and loss of balance that is typically associated with being drunk.

Alcohol can also cause blackouts—which are gaps in a person’s memory while they are intoxicated. According to the NIAAA, these gaps happen when a person drinks enough alcohol to temporarily block the transfer of memories from short-term to long-term storage —known as memory consolidation— in an area of the brain called the hippocampus. At higher blood alcohol concentration levels, alcohol acts as a depressant, which can cause people who drink to pass out if the dose is high enough. At even higher levels, people who drink face the danger of life-threatening alcohol overdose due to the suppression of vital life functions.

Here are some tips to keep in mind if you host a holiday gathering:

— Offer a variety of nonalcoholic drinks—water, juices, sparkling sodas. Nonalcoholic drinks help counteract the dehydrating effects of alcohol. Also, the other fluids may slow the rate of alcohol absorption into the body and reduce the peak alcohol concentration in the blood. They also provide guests with alternatives to alcohol.

— Provide a variety of foods and snacks. Food can slow the absorption of alcohol and reduce the peak level of alcohol in the body by about one-third. Food can also minimize stomach irritation and gastrointestinal distress the following day.

— Help your guests get home safely—use designated drivers and taxis. Anyone getting behind the wheel of a car should not have consumed any alcohol.

The Sheridan Police Department wishes all residents a happy and safe holiday season. 

The next Coffee with a Cop (an opportunity to speak with the city’s law enforcement) will be at the Farmer’s Co-op beginning at 6 a.m. until 8 a.m. on Dec. 4.