Luna brings the loonies: Emergency services on full moon nights

It’s been a common tale for centuries and our emergency services often see a spike in strange behaviour.

Whether proven or not, officers “often joke about” luna bringing the loonies, a myth which has been around for centuries, but, there’s a lot more to the belief floating around emergency crews.

While there might not be any scientific evidence to back it up, full moon folklore remains strong in many emergency service ranks.

The belief crazy things happen under the sky of a full moon has been around for centuries, and as another came around on Monday, the Chronicle spoke to local police about the legend.

Whether it's simply because of the bright light make it easier for crims to find their way in the dark or something more sinister bringing out strange behaviour, officers "often joke about" lunar bringing out the loonies and an expectation things are "going to be busier".

Hervey Bay Police Station's Acting Senior Sergeant Damien Corson said you could "ask anyone" who works in emergency services and they'd be familiar with the trend.

"It's definitely out there, you talk to nursing staff, you talk to ambulance staff - anyone in emergency services or works late at night - quite often jokes are made when a particular incident happens, and they go; 'Oh, it must be a full moon'," Sgt Corson told The Chronicle.

"You get a job that seems a little bit out of the ordinary … or the people just aren't quite with it, and you're walking out of the hospital, and just happened to notice to full moon."

Sergeant Paul Byrne said "nights with full moons tend to be very busy".

"All the experts who write about it, say it is a myth, but actual experience does lean more towards full moon nights being busier, I don't know the cause, though," Sgt Byrne said.

A running saying among emergency workers, it is yet to be proven whether the full moon can take any blame for strange happenings occurring when it takes the night sky, however, some think so.

And, Sgt Corson thinks windy weather may be another factor.

"I've coached kids on sporting teams, and they just seem to be more erratic, more energetic, less focused on really windy days.

Generally a "disbeliever" when it comes to the mystical and a "factual kinda guy", Sgt Corson admitted the full moon factor was sometimes hard to dispute but mostly it was just one of those joked about things which helped those on the frontline get through.

"When you see some of the things we see, and you walk outside and then see a full moon, it's hard to debate."

"(It comes) with the black humour that emergency services utilise to cope with stressful situations," Sgt Corson said.

Sgt Byrne added, with the type of things emergency workers were faced with humour was a necessity.

"Emergency service workers have weird sense of humour, we see so many terrible things as part of our duty, you need humour to help maintain balance," he said.

"My job is always unexpected, you never know what is going to happen.

"Respect is a big thing, police will treat you they way you treat them, if you are polite, they usually are the same way but, the opposite is the same, as well.

"We do we do operational skills and tactics throughout the year, so that obviously they do a lot of scenario based training … It gives the guys a little bit of exposure into what they may face out on the road, but, at the end of the day, we rely on people's skill sets, ability to communicate, and working with us," Sgt Corson said.

"We don't know what the motivation of a person (we're dealing with) is, we don't know what their end goal is.

"My job, as the officer in charge, is to make sure that my officers get home at the end of the day and anything that they do during the day is lawful and justified."

Originally published as Luna brings the loonies: Emergency services on full moon nights