Drunk tanks introduced to divert alcohol-fuelled revellers away from emergency rooms

LONDON, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- Health chiefs in Britain are to consider introducing year-round "drunk tanks" in major towns and cities to help reduce the number of alcohol-fuelled people heading to hospital emergency rooms.

The National Health Service (NHS) say as many as 70 percent of people attending accident and emergency units at hospitals on Fridays and Saturdays night are suffering from over consumption of alcohol.

Mobile drunk tanks are already used in a number of cities where drunks are taken to safely sleep off the effects of over-drinking.

Simon Stevens, CEO of the NHS in England said he plans to monitor the impact of the existing drunk tanks on one of the busiest nights of the year, New Year's Eve.

A decision may then be made to introduce the mobile tanks in major towns and cities across the country,

Currently the tanks, also known to people as "booze buses" are used in several cities, including Manchester, Cardiff and Bristol.

Stevens says 15 percent of all attendances at accident units result from over consumption of alcohol, but in some places this rises to 70 percent at weekends.

The health chief, who recently spent time monitoring paramedics in London and the West Midlands, said: "I've seen first-hand how paramedics and A&Es are being called on to deal with drunk and aggressive behavior.

"When the health service is pulling out all the stops to care for sick and vulnerable patients who rightly and genuinely need our support, it's frankly selfish when ambulance paramedics and A&E nurses have to be diverted to looking after revellers who have overindulged. NHS doesn't stand for 'National Hangover Service'."

Britain's first mobile drunk tank to treat intoxicated revellers was introduced in Bristol three years ago as a joint venture between the police, ambulance service and hospitals.

The Alcohol Recovery Centre (ARC) introduced there is a state-of-the-art medical facility created to take care of people who have had too much to drink as an alternative to being taken instead of being taken to hospital or to police cells. In the Welsh capital, Cardiff, their mobile alcohol treatment center operates in the city center, staff by nurses, paramedics and a police officer.

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is currently carrying out detailed research into the effectiveness of the drunk tanks. Enditem