Alcohol Associated Deaths in British Soldiers

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Abstract
In the decade 1968-77, 203 (12%) of the 1723 deaths in off duty British Army males were associated with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) in excess of 80 mgs/100 mls. These deaths occurred in road traffic accidents (49%), acute alcohol poisoning (23%), suicide (9%), drowning (8%), falling from a height (7%), burns (3%), and interpersonal violence (1%). The mean BAC was similar in all of these categories (180 mgs/100 mls) except in acute alcohol poisoning where it was double this figure. The mean age at death was similar, approximately 24 years, for all categories except suicide, where it was 28 years. The mean age at death of those with raised alcohol levels was not significantly different from that of the total number in the same group. Alcohol associated death is generally more common abroad than in the United Kingdom, with the notable exception that, in the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR), the incidence of alcohol associated road traffic deaths is no higher than that in the United Kingdom. BAC above 80 mgs % is much less common in soldiers whose deaths occur on duty (1.6%).

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