A night with the Christmas booze patrol: A warning over alcohol-fuelled festivities

A woman in her twenties lies sprawled across a Starbucks sofa, passed out after an 11-hour Christmas drinking spree.

She is typical of the hundreds of cases London Ambulance staff will see this evening on one of their busiest nights of the year.

Staff at the Charing Cross Road branch of the coffee shop called 999 when she refused to get up, and said they “had no idea what she could have taken”.

She had been drinking “since 11am” but was ready to walk home by the time the ambulance arrived - however, the medics had to check her over.

The Standard joined LAS paramedic Rachel Tait, 28, and colleague Nathan Lasham on their shift last night during the alcohol-fuelled festive season.

“The patients are waiting for us, not the other way around,” said Ms Tait, 28, an Australian who has been with LAS for three years. “There will be increased demand, so we’re expecting it to be patient to patient.”

At 11.40pm they received a call to a drunk middle-aged woman who has banged her head falling down the stairs at Piccadilly Circus Tube. Such was the burden from 999 calls, it was 40 minutes before she was seen.

A “golf-ball-sized lump” had appeared on the woman’s head, but she is conscious.

Paramedics issue warning over festive boozing

Ambulance chiefs today pleaded with Christmas revellers to drink responsibly as crews prepare for one of their busiest nights of the year.

Alcohol-related calls typically rise by about 50 per cent on festive party nights, with almost 300 calls on the same “mad Friday” last year. London Ambulance Service will lay on more crews on the ground and control room staff and expects to answer up to 40 alcohol-related calls an hour.

A&E units also expect to be busy at a time of winter illnesses. Only two London hospital trusts — Homerton and Chelsea and Westminster — hit the target last month to treat and discharge or admit 95 per cent of patients in four hours, which means ambulance crews have faced rising difficulty off-loading patients.

Kevin Bate, LAS deputy director of operations, said: “Every ambulance crew who responds to someone who has had too much to drink is a crew not responding to another ill or injured person who needs us.”

Dr Katherine Henderson, clinical lead in the A&E department at St Thomas’ hospital, said: “We’re appealing to party-goers to take care of themselves — and their friends — to avoid a visit to our emergency department.”

Revellers are advised to eat before drinking, drink more slowly and have water between alcoholic beverages, look after their friends and plan their journey home.

Dr Henderson said: “We want people to have a good time on a night out, but we ask that they drink responsibly. Nobody wants to end up in A&E vomiting, injured or unconscious.”

“I started drinking at 5.30pm,” the woman said.

She had not eaten since lunch and was on her own, trying to get back to Greenwich. “I’m really sorry. I feel really embarrassed. I’m literally mortified.”

Ms Tait replied: “We’re not here to judge you sweetheart, we’re just here to make sure you’re okay.”

Mr Lasham, 37, said paramedics were often frustrated at being called out to drunk people who have collapsed. Because they cannot be sure these are not seriously ill, call handlers prioritise them over patients who are conscious and breathing - who could include OAPs in excruciating pain with a broken a leg or hip.

“We want people to have a good time and party,” said Ms Tait. “But we want people to be responsible and look out for each other. Don’t let your drunk friend go home alone. Eat and drink water regularly.”