More than fifty patients already ended up in the emergency department of the Elisabeth-TweeSteden Hospital with far too much alcohol this carnival. Often too much alcohol was the only problem, sometimes a drunken partygoer was injured. A spokesperson for the ETZ: “It is very busy. We have also scaled up for Saturday evening with an extra nurse.”
“Harm van de Pas, doctor here at the emergency department, already said before carnival: don’t drink anything if you are not yet 18. And if you are older, then drink in moderation. And I would like to make that call again now; our body is no longer used to it. Before you know it you end up in the hospital.”
That is what spokesperson Wim Pleunis says halfway through Carnival Sunday. “It’s really busy here.”
‘They do their job’
On Friday evening and night, the doctors and nurses at the emergency post in Tilburg South already saw 21 drunk patients. And on Saturday, more than thirty more arrived. Pleunis cannot name the exact number. “I had left a note so they could count the patients, but it was far too busy for that.” Pleunis cannot say whether there are many underage patients among the excessive drinkers.
Whether the staff is disappointed, with the corona pressure still fresh in their minds? “They knew it was coming and were prepared for it. They are doing their job.”
Also many drunk visitors first aid posts
Other hospitals were unable to provide figures before. However, mayors Paul Depla of Breda and Jack Mikkers of Den Bosch see that a remarkably many drunken partygoers need the help of first aiders, they told Brabant earlier this Sunday. Mikkers: “A remarkably many people with alcohol problems report to the first aid tents on the Pensmarkt and the Parade.”
In Breda, the situation has even been scaled up after Friday and there are more first aiders in the city. “And there was already quite a bit of capacity. But the vast majority of the people who now need help have had too much to drink. We have increased so that the police and boas can continue to focus on their own work and do not have to be involved in this.”
Paul Depla also said: “It’s not unexpected either. We see a young generation that is no longer used to going out.”
Read all about carnival on our theme page.