Drug, alcohol ED figures rise

The festive season has seen a slight rise in the number of people seeking emergency help for alcohol and drug-related incidents in Marlborough.

From December 13, 2016 to January 3, 2017, 1324 people turned to the emergency department at Wairau Hospital in Blenheim for help.

Of these, 35, or 2.6 per cent, were related to alcohol and drug consumption and two people were admitted to hospital for treatment.

These figures show a small rise from a similar period last year which saw 1325 people show up for emergency medical assistance. Of these 27, or 2 per cent, were related to drugs and alcohol.

However, hospital bosses warned the figures could actually be much higher.

Emergency medicine specialist Dr Andrew Morgan said the figures may not give a true representation of the situation.

‘‘A more realistic figure could be as high as 30 per cent. For instance, someone may have been intoxicated, fallen and injured themselves but not come to ED until the following morning.

‘‘The injury may have been recorded as ‘due to a fall’ rather than alcohol related.

‘‘Dealing with drunk people takes longer.

‘‘They are difficult to communicate with, tend to wander around, may have drunk friends interfering and may be aggressive.

‘‘Most alcohol-related presentations are due to injuries sus- tained while drunk. Only a very small number of people are brought to ED because they are drunk and unconscious, or can’t stand or talk.

‘‘In these cases it is usually best that they are taken to ED.’’

Nelson Marlborough Health has tried to drive a culture change across the region about when to use the emergency department.

Dr Morgan said people had been taking the message on board.

‘‘In addition to getting the message across about where to be seen, we suspect there were less visitors to the region this holiday period also - possibly due to the Kaikoura earthquake,’’ he said.