By Aimi Redfern
The Sentinel (Stoke)
STOKE, England — Paramedics have treated more than 1,700 people for drug and alcohol overdoses in just twoyears, The Sentinel can reveal.
New figures show that since April 2011, on average, an ambulance has attended more than two overdose patients every day.
The highest number of cases are dealt with at weekends, according to the statistics, revealed by West Midlands Ambulance Service.
And the busiest day of the week for paramedics was Saturday, with 316 overdose incidents recorded, while there were a total of 265 on Fridays and 251 on Sundays.
Gill Brown, chief executive of charity Brighter Futures, said increasing numbers of people are turning to drugs and alcohol because of the stress of daily life, which has been intensified in the recession. “We know there is more drug and alcohol misuse leading to hospital admission in Stoke-on-Trent than on average, and the number of suicides in rising rapidly,” she said.
“People are dealing with the effects of poverty and being overwhelmed with debt. They do things to try to ease the pain and cope with the worry, and that includes drinking too much and taking drugs. The more local services are cut, and the more benefits are cut, the more people are resorting to dealing with things in this way. We can only expect it to get worse. “The impact is felt in our emergency services, which are more expensive. Cutting service for the voluntary sector is a false economy.” Jim Gibson, chairman of Chell Heath Residents’ Association, lost his 35-year-old son Gareth to a drugs overdose in 2009.
He said: “It doesn’t surprise me the numbers are that high. There needs to be more help for people with drug problems, but all the Government wants to do is cut everything. “The numbers of deliberate overdoses will probably grow now the bedroom tax and welfare reforms are coming in. I don’t know how people are going to cope.”
The figures show the ambulance service was called to 930 incidents between April 2011 and March 2012. The number of calls per month ranged from a high of 113 in June to a low of 53 in September.
From April 2012 up until the middle of February this year, the ambulance service was called out to overdoses 784 times. The most incidents came in August, with 100 calls, while in January this year there were 57.
From Monday to Thursday, the number of calls ranged from 203 to 229.
The high rate of calls at weekends suggests a proportion of the calls are linked to binge drinking - something members of Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s Nighttime Economy Task and Finish group have been concerned about.
Councillor Abi Brown, pictured left, who sits on the panel, said: “The high levels of overdoses are concer ning.
“We have been looking at problems relating to alcohol and we need to continue working on joint initiatives between the council, the licensing trade, the police and the NHS to deal with these effectively.”