With the number of alcohol-related emergencies skyrocketing at Mount Nittany Medical Center in the last two years, the university is struggling to find the right formula to combat dangerous drinking.

The 2005-2006 school year produced 353 alcohol-related emergency room visits and an average blood-alcohol content (BAC) of 0.239 -- almost three times the legal limit.

"We're certainly constantly adapting what we're trying to do," Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon said. "A lot of the studies are indicating that educational programs are not having much impact."

When Penn State played Ohio State last October, two dozen students spent the night celebrating in the emergency room.

"I can't even imagine what it was like to be in the emergency room that day with two dozen ambulances lined up at the door," Mahon said.

"Those are serious overdoses that were self-inflicted," he added.

Diana Ramos, who is a community health educator and alcohol intervention programs supervisor, said a BAC as high as Penn State's average could potentially be fatal.

She added that while different drinkers have various levels of tolerance, anyone with 0.239 BAC has lost coordination, motor skills, partial vision and is at risk of developing alcohol poisoning and damaging brain tissue.

"You're exposing your vital organs to a meltdown, so to speak," she said.

Maureen Karstetter, vice president of communication at Mt. Nittany Medical Center, said the emergency department is aware of the increasing number of students coming in for alcohol-related issues.

"We continue to be seriously concerned about alcohol intoxication and the blood alcohol levels of students," she said.

Karstetter said the emergency room prepares for "major weekends" -- such as home football weekends -- by increasing medical staff and having additional areas available to cater recovering alcohol patients.

"We remain concerned, it's a seriously, deadly prob-

lem," she said. "College campuses over the country are concerned, as well as their hospitals."

She added that there are those who don't come to the hospital despite dangerous levels of intoxication, but the rising documented number of alcohol-related patients is still a concern.

Mahon said the university has acknowledged this influx in alcoholic behavior and is attempting to control the problem.

"We desperately need to find a way to keep more students from getting to the point that they need to go to the emergency room," he said. "I don't know how long you can have 353 students going to the emergency room before there are some deaths."

Mahon said that the number of reported intoxicated female student cases has risen since past years as well.

He added that the victims of reported alcohol-related cases are also becoming younger than in previous years.