Trainer took 20 shots within half-hour

By Jack Gillum and Allison Sundaram

An athletic trainer who died this summer was poisoned by alcohol and was left unattended for several hours before bystanders called paramedics, according to an autopsy report obtained this week.

Jeannine Masch, 46, died at an off-campus party July 21 after participating in a drinking game with a student, where she consumed 20 shots of vodka within a 20-minute period, the report stated.

Her death, the first on or near campus in nearly a decade, highlights a potentially deadly problem with alcohol at parties, where students may have little knowledge of how to care for an intoxicated friend who could need immediate medical attention.

The report, compiled by the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner's Office, suggested that Masch, a former trainer for the Athletic Department, could have been dead for hours between when students let her "sleep off" her drinking and when paramedics were called the next morning.

Blood tests performed by the medical examiner revealed Masch's blood-alcohol content to be 0.45 percent, which can cause comas, serious injury or death.

Vice Provost for Student Life Jeanne Rosenberger, who has overseen alcohol policy changes in recent years, released a brief statement Tuesday:

"It is a tragedy to lose a member of our community to alcohol poisoning. Jeannine's death is a vivid reminder to everyone in our community to avoid high-risk alcohol use," she said.

Her comments appear to be among the few public statements made by the university expressing grief over Masch's death. For instance, two other community members who died in recent months were acknowledged in campus-wide e-mails, but Masch was not. And university statements describing that Masch was a trainer who worked "from time to time" differ from accounts given by Santa Clara athletes.

"Every single day she showed up at six in the morning to start working with the men's soccer team, and then she'd stay late into the night to get her paperwork done," junior crew member A.J Perry said.

While Masch may have been the first to die from alcohol in nearly a decade, at least 22 students in the past year have required transport to the hospital due to alcohol poisoning, and 48 people have been examined by Emergency Medical Services for an alcohol-related injury, the university said.

Alcohol is "a constant, prevalent problem each and every year" around the university, said Lt. Jim Buchanan, a police department spokesman.

Buchanan said there is no ongoing criminal investigation because the death was ruled an accident by the medical examiner's office.

Left alone

The autopsy report, submitted to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office for review, found that Masch's death was accidental and caused by acute alcohol poisoning.

Still, it was unknown whether anyone checked on Masch through the night after she had rested on a couch.

The medical examiner's report gave an account of that evening:

On July 20, Masch called a student and asked if he would continue a "challenge drink-off." A friend then drove Masch to a house, near Alviso Street and Fremont Avenue, to do the challenge.

During the drinking game, Masch consumed the 20 shots and then sat on a couch, reports stated. House residents or friends then brought her a bin in which to vomit.

About 1 a.m., a friend found Masch passed-out on a couch. After checking her pulse, the friend decided to let the trainer "sleep it off."

At about 9:45 a.m. the next morning, the same student who took the challenge with Masch found her unresponsive.

Paramedics were called and pronounced Masch dead at about 9:50 a.m.

"The whole time, I was just in shock," said friend Danika Dykstra.

"Still, to this day, the whole experience seems so surreal," she said.

A student and Masch "were drinking together, and they were doing something, they had made some sort of bet," said senior Chelsea Cowell, a friend of Masch's who was there the night of her death.

Cowell said that when friends returned from the Hut, which was about 2:30 a.m., they checked Masch's pulse.

Nonetheless, Masch succumbed to acute alcohol poisoning and died before paramedics arrived in the morning.

When EMTs showed up on scene, rigor mortis, or stiffening of the body, had set in, the report stated. That typically happens between three and four hours after death, but can occur in as little as 10 minutes.

At a BAC of 0.40 percent, a person's heartbeat and breathing become irregular or stop, said Dr. Wendy Thanassi, emergency medicine practitioner at Kaiser Permanente.

Thanassi, however, could not comment on the chances of survival at certain BAC levels, saying that each case is different.

"Generally, the way that people die with that blood alcohol level is vomiting and then aspirating, because they breathe in that vomit and die of a respiratory arrest," Thanassi said.

The report indicated that Masch had aspirated some food particles into her lungs.

University officials say that students should be informed of what to do when a friend may consume too much alcohol. Some tips include to call 911, to not leave the person alone and to stay with the person until medical help arrives.

A candlelight vigil for Masch is planned for Wednesday, Oct. 12, at 7:30 p.m. in front of the Mission Church, with a silent procession around campus.

Contact Jack Gillum at jgillum@scu.edu, or Allison Sundaram at asundaram@scu.edu.