Nearly 15 per cent of emergency room visits due to alcohol

“When we look at the executive summary, and we look at what we may see, for example the houseless or homeless community downtown, is about less than two per cent and is not even the tip of the iceberg when it comes to alcohol-related things we are seeing in the emergency room.”

Men accounted for about 60 per cent of alcohol-related emergency department visits overall, with men aged 25 to 44 and women aged 19 to 24 having the highest rates of visits. In addition, adolescent and young adult females had higher rates than males in the 10 to 24 age groups.

Alcohol was involved in 75 per cent of assaults, 71 per cent of hypothermia and exposure cases, and 62 per cent of intentional self-harm. It was also a major factor in motor vehicle crashes, falls, and poisonings.

CAMP is currently working hard to include youth in the data intake that’s ongoing. They currently have 350 surveys returned from youth at Churchill Community High School and Senator Myles Venne School.

Bell noted those who are under 18 chose to drink craft vodka up to 40 per cent alcohol in volume and chase it with beverages like Twisted Tea. The reason vodka is the drink of choice is because it is relatively cheap in price.

“It is not about having a social drink, it’s about being blacked out, so how do we change the culture of what that can be?” Bell said.

The data collected by CAMP is important because it will be used to support community conversations, place a focus on high-impact times and settings, strengthen supports for youth and young women, develop targeted supports for people with repeat emergency room visits, and expand future CAMP work beyond the local hospital.

All the data submitted from CAMP can be viewed online here.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com

by Derek Cornet

Nearly 15 per cent of emergency room visits due to alcohol

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