The etymology of vodka isn’t crystal clear, but the word is a diminutive of water (voda) in some Slavic languages.
Quoth the infallible Wikipedia:
Another possible connection for ‘vodka’ with ‘water’ is the name of the medieval alcoholic beverage aqua vitae (Latin, literally, ‘water of life’), which is reflected in Polish ‘okowita’, Ukrainian оковита, or Belarusian акавіта.
It’s this “water of life” connection that makes it especially appropriate that an Italian tourist was saved by the stuff, according to the BBC. Resourceful Australian doctors put the tourist, who had swallowed poison in an apparent suicide attempt, on a vodka drip as treatment after their supply of medicinal alcohol was exhausted.
‘The patient was drip-fed about three standard drinks an hour for three days in the intensive care unit,’ Dr Todd Fraser said in a statement.
That’s about 216 drinks, or roughly double what the typical UW-Madison freshman fraternity pledge drinks over the course of homecoming weekend. Buona fortuna with that hangover, anonymous Italian tourist.
I think that the article title is a bit misleading; given that the tourist deliberately tried to commit suicide, the Australian doctors were more defying his wishes rather than miraculously and resourcefully saving his life. Furthermore, what were the results on this poor man’s liver and brain? Was there permanent damage?
Not to be flip about it, but I’m guessing his liver and brain will have taken a lesser hit for not dying. He was believed to be attempting suicide, after all.
In most places you’re not allowed to assist a suicide, and I can assure you that it’s a REALLY rare physician that will say “Gee, guess I’ll help this bloke along” when it comes to a patient’s suicide attempt.
EWSFlash: Well, he clearly wanted to die, and had reasons for it. He certainly doesn’t need more reasons (i.e. alcohol induced damage) upon finding that his attempt was thwarted.
While doctors in most places aren’t allowed to assist a suicide and are probably actively obligated to attempt to resuscitate the attempter, there’s still quite a difference between that and saving someone’s life who wants to be saved.
It’s important to note that what occurred was an suicide attempt; there is little information about the circumstances surrounding the event, and surely any responsible doctor could not allow a patient to just die without a very good reason to do so (debilitating terminal illness, etc.). Maybe with treatment, the man will decide he wants to live, or maybe he’ll find a more effective way of killing himself. Regardless, his doctors did the responsible thing.
Also, ethanol therapy for various forms of poisoning (ethylene glycol and methanol are two) is an accepted medical protocol. There are very few drugs without side effects; think of the side-effects of chemotherapy or long-term opioid use for pain. Treatments are chosen for what will cause the most acceptable amount of harm for the good they do, so in this situation the risks of that much alcohol to his system must have been outweighed by the protection they gave to his heart, kidneys, and brain.