When a Kappa Alpha fraternity pledge became unconscious early Sept. 28 after participating in a vodka-chugging contest, other fraternity members put him in a bed about 2 a.m. and then did something a University of Missouri medical researcher said Friday is extremely dangerous.

�For safety concerns, they put a backpack on to� ensure �that while he was sleeping he did not roll over on his back, vomit, and proceed to choke on his own vomit and auto-asphyxiate himself,� Kappa Alpha chapter President Jacob Lee wrote in an incident report for the national fraternity headquarters.

Dan Vinson, a professor emeritus in the School of Medicine who has studied alcohol and its effects for more than 20 years, said that is not safe.

�I never heard of it before, but it sounds like an urban legend in the making, and I want to use a fire extinguisher to snuff it out,� Vinson said.

About nine hours after the pledge was put to bed, he was being treated at Boone Hospital Center for acute alcohol poisoning. Students at the fraternity did not call 911 until they discovered they could not wake the pledge, who had a blood alcohol content of 0.45 � more than five times higher than the legal limit to drive a car � when he arrived at the hospital, his parents have said.

Homecoming means drinking begins early in the day for many people. Alcohol consumption at any level creates a higher likelihood of an accident, Vinson said. Two drinks over six hours doubles the risk of injury, and four drinks in that period makes the risk 10 times as great, he said.

If someone is intoxicated, he said, it is important to make sure they have not consumed so much alcohol they are in danger. One way to do that is to attempt to wake them, he said. If they do not wake up, call 911, he said.

�You don�t just put them in a back room, shut the door and let them sleep it off,� Vinson said.

Kappa Alpha apparently violated university and fraternity rules against hard alcohol and allowing a minor to consume alcohol in any form. The fraternity, already on disciplinary probation as a result of a previous incident where a pledge required medical treatment for intoxication, is on temporary suspension while the MU Office of Student Conduct investigates. The MU chapter also has been suspended by the national fraternity while it conducts an investigation.

The Columbia Police Department is investigating allegations that the vodka consumption was part of illegal hazing of new members.

Mike Zingale, father of the Kappa Alpha pledge, said he was told the method used on his son was called �backpacking� and had never heard of it before.

The online Urban Dictionary defines it as a �drunk pack,� and a Reddit page called Life Pro Tips describes the process as laying the intoxicated person on their side and placing the backpack in a position that prevents rolling onto their back.

�I have never heard of backpacking except going for a long hike in the Sierras,� Vinson said. �If you are concerned enough that this person isn�t arousable, might vomit, might aspirate, if someone is so far out of it that they can�t protect their own airway, then they have acute alcohol poisoning and you should call 911.�

A Boone Hospital Center ambulance and the Columbia Fire Department responded Sept. 29 to the fraternity house at 1301 University Ave. The pledge�s mother, Lynn Zingale, said she has spoken to supervisors for the firefighters and the emergency medical responders and is certain her son was on the verge of dying when he received treatment.

When help arrived, she said, her son �was cold, on the floor, with bubbles coming out of his mouth. � They had to suction his mouth to secure his airway.�

The university has not announced the results of its investigation, nor has the national fraternity. Lynn Zingale said the more she has learned about the incident, the more incensed she is at the fraternity leaders.

�This bothers me, that they were so concerned about their well-being and not getting into trouble that he was left in this condition,� she said.