Extra staff are being drafted in to popular party/ nightlife areas in London, Cardiff and Birmingham tonight to cope with the casualties of Mad Friday.
The peak time for alcohol-related call-outs over the festive period, last year’s Mad Friday – which fell on December 17 – saw 6681 people calling for ambulances, which is a significant increase on the average 4000 every Friday night.
London Ambulance is setting up mobile treatment centres in the West End and around Liverpool Street to try and cope with any booze-fuelled crises.
The snowy weather in much of the country is unlikely to help matters, with slippery pavements likely to trip up any overly enthusiastic Mad Friday revellers.
Extra police are being brought in to help handle celebrations slated for Manchester tonight, while Birmingham City Centre will also set up mobile treatment units, known as ‘booze buses’.
The booze buses free up crews from having to take drinkers to accident and emergency departments, so that they can concentrate on people afflicted with life-threatening conditions as opposed to people who are just utterly pissed.
Happy Mad Friday everyone – but for god’s sake, remember to eat something. And drink lots of water!
