Alcohol lands one in four weekend emergency patients in hospital
Two Melbourne icons head a diverse list of the most dangerous places to drink in the city, where assaults, glassings and violence are most likely to occur. And that result is very bad news for our emergency workers.
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Crown Casino and the MCG top a list of the most dangerous places to drink in Melbourne, according to a review of alcohol-related hospital admissions.
One in four weekend patients at St Vincent’s Hospital’s emergency department were ill or had been injured as a result of their drinking, a three-month study found.
The toll included victims of assaults, glassings and violence leading to soft-tissue injuries and fractures.
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Others were suffering illnesses related to severe drunkenness, such as nausea and vomiting, unconsciousness, and alcohol-related mental health problems. The watering holes from which patients had most frequently come were Crown casino, the MCG, Tramp Bar in King St, the Arbory on the Yarra River, and live music venue Billboard in Russell St.
Even on weekdays, one in 10 of St Vincent’s emergency department patients were found to have been drinking before arriving, prompting the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine to raise concerns about pub trading hours and regulations.
Professor Diana Egerton-Warburton, who heads the college’s Alcohol Harm in the ED program, said Victoria had some of the nation’s longest pub opening hours. Many pubs sold alcohol beyond 1am.
Prof Egerton-Warburton said policymakers had the ability to switch off violence: previous studies had found that for every hour a venue remained open beyond 1am, the rates of assaults and injuries climbed by 10 per cent.
“Emergency departments are becoming like pubs. Our research shows that nine out of 10 emergency physicians have experienced alcohol-related violence,” she said.
“With the sheer volume of alcohol-related presentations to emergency departments, policymakers need to urgently address the issue of affordability and availability of alcohol.”
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The latest findings emerge from the Driving Change project — a collaboration between the college, leading universities, and nine hospitals across Melbourne, Geelong, and Warrnambool, as well as Sydney and Canberra.
ACEM president Dr Simon Judkins said alcohol-fuelled violence was causing healthcare workers to suffer from stress and burnout.
“We know that trading hours are part of the problem,” Dr Judkins said.
“Victoria’s regulatory environment enables some of the longest opening hours in Australia. Many venues sell alcohol past 1 in the morning, and entertainment complexes like Crown are allowed to trade for 24 hours,” he said.