Although our name is First Choice Drug Testing, we do much more than drug testing. We also do breath alcohol testing. Truck drivers, pilots, railroad workers and any other personnel who fall under the Department of Transportation drug testing regulations are subject to random and post-accident alcohol tests.

We have many donors we see on a regular basis, most are in some sort of program that requires them to test randomly and regularly to retain some rights they have lost because of drug and/or alcohol abuse. Some of these people have to call us every day to see if they have to come in that day for a drug or alcohol test. This system works quite well to keep people accountable for their actions.

One of our former “regulars” came in for her bi-weekly breath alcohol test. She was court ordered to pass a breath alcohol test every other Friday in order to see her kids on her designated weekend. This was a very ineffective testing program because all she had to do was stay sober on Friday until she passed her breath alcohol test, then she would be free to drink as soon as it was over. For many weeks she tested negative by blowing .000 into our breath alcohol machine, which shouldn’t be difficult when you know you’re going to test that day! One particular Friday she drove to our clinic for her bi-weekly test. She blew into the machine and registered well above the legal limit to drive which must be below 080. She claimed she just brushed teeth and used mouthwash hence the high reading.

When performing a breath alcohol test, if you blow a .020 or greater we will administer a second test 15 minutes later, aka a confirmation test. This 15 minute wait allows any residual alcohol in their mouth to dissipate so we know that we are only getting alcohol content from blood through the bronchial tubes in the lungs and not residual alcohol in the mouth.

As it turns out, our Mother of the Year didn’t have residual mouthwash in her mouth as she claimed, the second confirmation test was even a higher breath alcohol concentration than the initial screen 15 minutes earlier! She started to leave (remember she drove herself to our clinic) and we informed her that although we cannot physically retain her, we would call the local authorities if she drove off as we have a duty to keep the public safe. She reluctantly called someone to pick her up. Luckily, we have never had to carry out our threat to call the authorities despite the fact that on multiple occasions we have had clients test above the legal limit for alcohol who drove themselves to our clinic.

Some people have serious issues when it comes to drugs and alcohol, see example above. If you or someone you know would be interested in one of our follow up drug testing programs, feel free to give us a call.