The ER Finale on Thursday, April 2 has an important message. The ER Finale for this season is 2 hours long. The story for the Finale was inspired by ER’s executive producer John Wells’ niece. Well’s niece was Shelby Lyn Allen, 17, of Redding, California. Allen died of alcohol poisoning in December 2008.

The ER Finale is named “And in the End, Part 1 & 2”. The show’s character, Dr Tony Gates, worked on a young patient, a teen, who was hospitalized with alcohol poisoning. The teen experienced trouble after a drinking game with friends.

Wells said that the teenaged fun was a warning sign for a dangerous medical situation.

Allen was a student at Foothill High School. Allen shared a night’s drinking session with two other teens. Allen’s friends left her in the bathroom. When they check on her the next morning, Allen was already dead.

Debbie Allen, the bereaved mother, said she promised to do everything she could to educate teens, young adults and parents to the risks in alcohol poisoning. Mrs Allen said early medical help could save lives.

Mr Steve Allen and Mrs Debbie Allen want to pass the message that after a drinker tosses up, it is essential that the person remains conscious. If the person can not be awakened, then s/he may be having a medical emergency.

The Allens have a website to spread knowledge about alcohol poisoning at www.shelbysrules.com . Its a great website in memory of Shelby. There is a photo of Shelby at her website. There are some useful facts that we can benefit by reading. How many people know that 8 ounces of hard liquor in 2 hours can cause alcohol poisoning?

There is a long story on ER and its 15 years in TV here.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 at 10:17 pm and is filed under Gossip.