Drunk Tanks?

[ToraToraTora]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-42506706
What do we think?

[EcclesCake]

A safe haven to sober up in with support staff to help and advise. St Johns/Andrews Ambulance on hand to deal with minor scrapes etc seems a perfect solution to take pressure of hospitals and emergency services.

[-Talbot-]

community service for being drunk?

[ToraToraTora]

seems like a good idea on the face of it, I think they should charge them though as others have suggested.

[anotheoldgit]

-Talbot-

There is a difference between 'drunk' and 'drunk and disorderly', the latter is a crime, so rather than just a fine such community service would be a better deterrent.

[youngmafbog]

Good idea to have them to stop A&E bein flooded.

BUT, I would like to see them pay for the service along with a charge from the old Bill for being so drunk you are incalculable of looking after yourself.

Anyone abusing any staff should be banged up and appear before the beak in the morning where they should have the book thrown at them, preferably some bird.

[pixie374]

Unfortunately, it's probably a good idea. Education will only go so far, there will always be younger people growing up and experimenting.

[Bigbad]

It seems to me, pixie, that it’s not just young people.
It’s not unusual to see people in their late twenties plus who seem to go out with the intention of getting blind drunk.
I can’t help thinking by the time folk have reached that age, they should have matured enough to drink sensibly.

And yes, I’m happy to see them put in a tank and lie around in their own vomit if it keeps A & E for people that need it.

[pixie374]

Yes, it is older people too- but i don't think it's a problem that will disappear any time soon. If it keeps them safe, while freeing up A&E for those that really need it, it has to be worth a go.

[ummmm]

So many people don't go out with intention of getting blindo. They feel fine and then hit the fresh air and BOOM. I've met people who could have a perfectly coherent conversation but their legs just weren't working properly.

I think it's a good idea.

[Bigbad]

No, it won’t disappear soon.
It seems to be a ‘let’s go out and get paralytic’ culture, rather than a ‘let’s have a good time and a few drinks’ culture.

Personally, I don’t see the attraction in getting in such a self-inflicted state that you make a fool of yourself/can’t remember what you did/end up covered in vomit/peeing yourself.
Each to their own, I suppose.

[Haggisdj]

I'm just playing Devil's Advocate here but it seems as if you can afford a roof over your head and afford to go out and get legless you will be 'put up' for the night but if you cannot afford either you are left to freeze...

[237SJ]

I think it's a good idea. I remember taking my Dad to A&E in the early hours of the morning and while the doctor was questioning him, a drunk guy was constantly pulling on the doctor's arm and taking his attention away from my Dad. They left the drunk to sleep it off on a trolley and my friend who nursed in the hospital said that they had a duty of care to the drunk and could be in trouble if they turfed him out into the night and he came a cropper. Anything that keeps drunks out of A&E so that the medical professionals can concentrate on other cases can only be a good thing.

[vulcan42]

You do realise that these vehicles, costing tens of thousands and the paramedics, nurses etc to run them will be paid for from within the NHS, thus removing the money and expert staff from the local hospitals?

[Jahulaye]

We used to have a better version of drunk tanks in the medieval times known as “ The Stocks”

Bring those back although I’d probably be the first locked into them

[Gromit]

I am really against this.

If people are too drunk, they should go home. If they are badly injurred, they should go to hospital.
These buses look like an accident waiting to happen.

[Mamyalynne]

I think the Booze Buses do play an important role in keeping some away from A&E, not just the absolute falling down drunk who could hurt themselves or others but the one who has tripped and grazed a knee/elbow whose friends all decide she/he needs attention.

They turn up mob handed and storm A&E with their giddiness, all of which could have been patched up in a few moments.

[237SJ]

I think the idea behind the vehicles (part funded by the police) is that they are a sort of in situ triage unit to decide if the drunk person can sleep it off or be taken to A&E if they have some sort of injury. I would have thought that would be saving on the manpower needed to constantly be sending ambulances to every call out

[Jahulaye]

I once read that we’re the most drunkest nation in Europe or on the globe, is that true? Has anyone got any stats?