Over the Christmas season, drunk people are likely to be the most burden on the ambulance service and hospitals.
Drunken fights, drunk drivers, drunk risk takers. These all result in injuries to the drunk person and sadly other people too.
The Christmas period sees a rise in trauma-related emergencies for the ambulance service and hospitals, says the St John Ambulance.
Stating that injuries and accidents during the festive season are often a result of excess consumption of alcohol.
ST John Ambulance is appealing to people that are choosing to drink; to please drink responsibly. That means not having more than one or two beer cans per hour.
“Never drink alcohol and drive. Always have a ‘sober bob’, a person that is not drinking who takes responsibility for driving the family or friends.”
St John Ambulance Chief Medical Officer, Dr Mangu Kendino said, “If there are any significantly injured persons either through a fall, assault or Motor Vehicle accident; it is recommended that the injured not be moved. Trained St John Pre-hospital care providers should be alerted through the 111 National Ambulance Call Centre and will respond in a timely manner to ensure appropriate care and transportation to the hospital.”
“We are seeing the effects of unregulated high-strength liquor like ‘berry’ flavoured liquor. It is damaging our society, burdening our hospitals and resulting in people taking dangerous risks,” Dr Kendino said.
“Too often when ambulance officers get attacked, it is people affected by what we believe to be high-strength liquor. We attend to people affected by alcohol because everyone deserves health care. Even if they make poor choices or mistakes.
“But please help our Green Angels by avoiding alcohol or being sensible with your drinking.”