A more accurate title for this post might be a formula for after the disaster because the above referenced Widmark Formula is a standard used in DUI related court cases. E.M.P. Widmark, a Swedish researcher of pharmacokinetics, developed this equation early in the last century that allows the determination of the amount of alcohol a person consumed or their blood alcohol concentration (BAC). In the example above, Widmark’s Formula is often used to calculate the number of drinks consumed considering the following known values:
where: N = amount consumed
W = body weight
r = the volume of distribution (a constant)
Ct = blood alcohol concentration (BAC)
β = the alcohol elimination rate
t = time since the first drink
z = the fluid ounces of alcohol per drink
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One thing that I always get confused about in discussing the determination of intoxication level is that while there is a fairly simple conversion, blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is very different from the breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) normally measured. Looking at the variables involved in the formula it’s not hard to see why this equation is often used in a court of law, say if you wanted to know what the BAC of a guy was at the time of an accident even if he wasn’t tested until hours later at the police station. Most of the info out there on this subject resides on DUI lawyer websites, so I want to give a hat tip to the Washington State Patrol Forensic Laboratory Services for providing the excellent info and allowing me to avoid providing any free press for the sharks.
I know this is not exactly recovery related material, but let’s face it, the odds are most of us will be involved in or be affected by a DUI event or accident (been there, done that) so it doesn’t hurt to have a little knowledge on the subject.
