I note a number of instances on the Alcohol Influence Report (AIR) in which minimum volume was not achieved as indicated by “MIN. VOL. NOT ACHIEVED”.
Your client has a history of acid flux disease. While this certainly explains the alcoholic on his breath as noted above, it may also account for his inability to provide an adequate breath specimen in that acid reflux is frequently the result of a hiatal hernia. Herniation of the stomach into the thoracic cavity reduces the space or pulmonary expansion and may contribute to a minimum volume not being achieved. It can even produce syncope. Case Reports in Cardiology, Hindawi Publishing Corporation, Volume 2011 (2011), Arctic le ID 560734, Syncope Caused by Huge Hiatal Hernia, Gabriel Vanerio, 19 June 2011.