SCRAM Ankle Bracelet Measures Blood Alcohol

SCRAM Ankle Bracelet Measures Blood Alcohol Addiction Alcohol Use Drunk Driving Print How the SCRAM Ankle Bracelet Measures Blood Alcohol By Buddy T facebook twitter Buddy T is an anonymous writer and founding member of the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee with decades of experience writing about alcoholism. Learn about our editorial policy Buddy T Medically reviewed by Medically reviewed by Steven Gans, MD on May 17, 2016 Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital. Learn about our Medical Review Board Steven Gans, MD Updated on October 20, 2019  Jedrzej Kaminski / EyeEm/Getty Images More in Addiction Alcohol Use Drunk Driving Binge Drinking Withdrawal and Relapse Children of Alcoholics Addictive Behaviors Drug Use Nicotine Use Coping and Recovery Electronic ankle bracelets have been an effective way to monitor people under house arrest, and are now used to measure alcohol consumption by repeat offenders. The Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor, or SCRAM, reads the blood alcohol content of the person wearing it every 30 minutes and reports those readings to supervising agencies.?? The SCRAM is not only used by the judicial system but has also been used with some success by alcohol treatment providers to monitor the alcohol consumption of patients. The SCRAM is used to help patients maintain compliance with abstinence-based programs and identify patients that need further intervention.?? Technology has advanced significantly since SCRAM first began offering alcohol monitoring systems to agencies in 1997. The company now offers two different devices - one that measures blood-alcohol content through the skin and another that provides remote breath testing to supervising agencies. Different Types of SCRAM Monitors The device that tests alcohol consumption through the skin (transdermal testing) is called SCRAM CAM (continuous alcohol monitoring). The device is strapped around the offenders ankle and sends test results to the base unit located in the offenders home.?? Originally, the base unit communicated the test results to the supervising agency through the offenders telephone landline. Now the base unit can use cell phone or Internet connections. If the offender is sentenced to home confinement or is given a curfew, the SCRAM CAM can also monitor for compliance. The device eliminates the offenders ability to miss a test or drink around testing schedules.?? SCRAM Remote Breath Tester A remote handheld device takes a photograph of the person has they blow into the machine, and uses facial recognition software to make sure the person taking the test is the person under supervision. The remote breath tester also contains GPS technology which will record the GPS coordinates of the machine each time it conducts a test. If the offender misses a scheduled test, the machine records the GPS location at the time of the missed test. Problems With SCRAM Monitors In the early years of its use, the SCRAM devices had some limitations and problems. Some of these problems included:?? Being too sensitive and giving false positivesDevices could be removed without providing an alertWould not detect some low level drinking eventsCould report false tamper alerts These problems were noted in a series of studies of the alcohol monitoring devices funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The research was conducted by programs monitoring drunk drivers and other alcohol-involved offenders several states. One of the problems reported with alcohol monitoring devices was the reluctance of probation officers and caseworkers to participate in the program because they did not believe they would work. In the New York 8th Judicial District, they found that if they convinced the doubting agents to wear the devices and test them themselves, they soon became advocates for the program.?? SCRAM Can Lower Recidivism Rates Another NHTSA-funded study looked at the use of SCRAM and recidivism among drunk driving offenders and concluded that the device was effective in monitoring alcohol abstinence. It found that the device could cut down on the need for probation or other court officers to do in-home monitoring, leading to reduced costs.??   The study also reported that offenders who remain abstinent while going through alcohol treatment programs had better outcomes compared to those who were not monitored and not abstinent.??