In the third of our series of features on the Big Drink Debate, Helen Woods looks at how drink-related accidents affect the North East Ambulance Service
A DRINK-RELATED injury could lead to a serious incident not getting an ambulance fast enough, a paramedic says.
Alcohol-related falls and minor injuries are one of the most common reasons for paramedics to be called out at weekends – and sometimes a
n ambulance is not needed.
Alnwick ambulance station team leader Lee Collins said that most weekends his team is called out to an alcohol-related incident.
He added that in some cases an ambulance is not needed and could potentially be taken away from a more serious injury, especially as only one ambulance is based at the Alnwick station.
He said: "It seems to be now that they always call an ambulance and it puts more pressure on us."
And he said that when people have been drinking it is harder to deal with injuries.
On the effects of alcohol in men and women, he said that men can be more aggressive and tend to get involved in fights.
He said: "Sometimes people can be very awkward. Some are almost comedy drunk but sometimes the y can still be a bit aggressive.
"But if they are aggressive and swear we have the right to refuse treatment."
His advice to people who sustain injuries whilst drinking is to think before calling an ambulance.
He recommends calling the out-of-hours GP service or NHS Direct to see if injuries can be treated without using the valuable resource of an ambulance.
