Wednesday 16th December 2015 – 1.30pm – Jamie Arrowsmith.
Feeling a little bit merry? Ringing your friends at 2am to tell them you love them? Falling over a curb and twisting your ankle? Vomiting all over yourself and a paramedic? Trading blows with your best friend over a girl neither of you know?
Is it really worth it?
General Manager for West Midlands Ambulance Service, Nathan Hudson, said: “Every year over the festive period the ambulance service gets called to a large number of cases where people of all ages have had far too much to drink.
“Drinking causes people to do things they definitely wouldn’t do if they were more sober. The knock on effect of this is that our highly trained medical staff are having to baby sit fully grown adults who don’t know when they have had enough alcohol. These staff should be available to treat people who have suffered a life threatening emergencies.
“Whilst we do not wish to spoil people’s fun, we would just ask people to be sensible and take responsibility for themselves and their own actions when they are out celebrating this year. What if an ambulance crew that was dealing with you vomiting on yourself lying in the street, wasn’t then available to treat your family member who needed lifesaving treatment? We are quite sure you would be devastated that your irresponsible actions have directly had a negative impact on your loved ones chance of survival; your Christmas probably wouldn’t be quite so merry.”
So, we ask again, is it really worth it?
To help you have a safe fun festive Christmas party night out please following the top tips below:
- Eating isn’t cheating.
Food helps slow the absorption of alcohol, stopping it going to your head too quickly. - Pace your drinks.
Drink at your own speed and don’t drink too much before you go out – the likelihood is you won’t last to the end of the evening. Why not break your alcoholic drinks up with water or soft drinks. - Never leave drinks unattended and then return and drink them.
Never leave drinks unattended or with strangers. There are some unsavoury people around who are more than willing to take advantage of the situation. - Stick together.
Look after your work colleagues and friends whilst out and where possible make sure friends get home safely – get them to text you when returning home. We have seen a number of people that have had too much to drink suffer from hypothermia after falling asleep outside. - Going home in a cab?
Make sure it’s a license black cab from an official taxi rank or call for a private taxi, you could even organise a cab before you go out for your return journey home. Never get in a taxi you haven’t called for, you aren’t insured and don’t know if the driver or vehicle is safe. - Violence related injuries.
Christmas is the season to be jolly – don’t fight! - Hungry at the end of the night?
Why not get something from a reputable food outlet – often we see people attempting to cook at home and falling asleep. Fires can spread quickly and the smoke can also kill people very rapidly!
Ends