West Midlands Ambulance Service tell you how to enjoy yourself tonight in safety.
As West Midlands Ambulance Service gears up for Hogmanay, the Trust is asking the public to make it is a very happy, but safe New Year.
New Year’s Eve is traditionally the busiest night of the year with a large proportion of calls being alcohol-related. But it’s not just people who are too drunk to stand up, are being sick; sadly, overindulgence leads to assaults, falls whilst people have false bravado and road traffic collisions too.
Unfortunately, it also leads to our staff having to put up with abusive drunks which sadly sometimes results in them being abused verbally or even physically, which is completely unacceptable.
A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: “The last thing we want to do is to spoil people’s fun; we would just ask people to be sensible and take responsibility for themselves and their own actions when they are out celebrating to make sure they have a safe and fun night to remember.
“Whilst thousands of people will be out celebrating the arrival of 2015, our staff and volunteers will be working flat out.”
To help you have a safe and fun New Year, please follow our top tips below:
• Eating isn’t cheating
Food helps slow the absorption of alcohol, stopping it going to your head too quickly.
• Pace your drinks
Drink at your own speed and don’t drink too much before you go out – the likelihood is you wont last to the end of the evening. Why not break your alcoholic drinks up with water or soft drinks.
• Never leave drinks unattended and then return and drink them
Never leave drinks unattended or with strangers. There are some unsavoury people around who are more than willing to take advantage of the situation.
• Stick together
Look after your friends whilst out and where possible make sure friends get home safely – get them to text you when returning home. We have seen a number of people that have had too much to drink suffer from hypothermia after falling asleep outside.
• Going home in a cab?
Make sure it’s a licensed black cab from an official taxi rank or call for a private taxi. You could even organise a cab before you go out for your return journey home. Never get in a taxi you haven’t called for, you aren’t insured and don’t know if the driver or vehicle is safe.
• Violence-related injuries
Enjoy your celebrations don’t ruin them by getting into a fight!
• Hungry at the end of the night?
Why not get something from a reputable food outlet – often we see people attempting to cook at home and falling asleep. Fires can spread quickly and the smoke can also kill people very rapidly.
