9-1-1: Lone Star addresses several medical emergencies during the duration of the show. Last night, viewers got an inside look at water intoxication after an eating contest at a bar went incredibly wrong.
The scene was set up for an eating contest to get on a wall of fame in what looked to be a bar. One man and one woman were going up against one another to eat a six-pound steak.
As the contest went on, the participants were both drinking plenty of water to help wash down the food they were shoving into their mouths.
When the man backed out, the woman was to be declared the winner. Unfortunately, she began to fall ill fast, hitting her head on the bar table and landing on the ground. At that point, the medics were called.
What was the diagnosis on 9-1-1: Lone Star?
In barrelled the medics with Michelle Blake (Liv Tyler) at the helm. While initially, they were trying to ask the patient if she was pregnant because of her distended belly, it took a few minutes to figure out what was happening.
After accessing the situation, Michelle asked about the pitchers of water that were sitting on the bar table. There were at least two empty pitchers, though the relevance didn’t immediately become clear.
Michelle called it out as water intoxication and the crew began to work to relieve the pressure in the patient’s abdomen before her bladder burst. After administering a catheter and getting rid of the excessive water, things began to return to normal.
Is water intoxication a real thing?
9-1-1: Lone Star did a good job depicting what would happen if someone was experiencing water intoxication. It is a real thing, and if not caught in time, it could be fatal to the patient.
Signs and symptoms typically appear after someone drinks three to four liters of water in a short amount of time. With all of the empty pitchers on the bar table, it was easy to assume the woman drink at least that much while trying to eat that steak.
Headaches, cramping, throwing up, and even drowsiness are symptoms of possible water intoxication. In the more severe cases, like the 9-1-1: Lone Star patient, seizures and loss of consciousness can also occur.
Water intoxication occurs when the amount of fluid intake dilutes the sodium in your body. This will cause cells to swell and that could lead to problems within a patient’s brain, causing a coma or even death.
To avoid water intoxication, it is suggested that a person drinks no more than one liter of water an hour. That is the average rate at which your kidneys can generally flush it out. Any more than that could lead to problems.
The patient on 9-1-1: Lone Star was able to get medical attention in time and the show was able to bring awareness to this potential medical issue.
9-1-1: Lone Star airs Monday nights at 8/7c on FOX.