University of Glasgow - University news - Alcohol burden on ambulance service in Scotland three times higher than previous
86,780 ambulance callouts were identified as alcohol-related in 2019, using a new method based on the notes taken by paramedics at the scene. This figure, an average of more than 230 call-outs every day, is more than three times higher than previously reported.
Whilst paramedics have long described a heavy burden of alcohol on the Scottish ambulance service, this is the first study to accurately quantify that burden in a robust way that can be routinely monitored. Ambulance services often represent a patient’s first – and sometimes only – contact with health services for a particular alcohol-related issue.
In new research led by Francesco Manca and Professor Jim Lewsey at the University of Glasgow and published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, researchers reveal a new approach to accurately determine how many ambulance callouts are alcohol-related. The work was part of a study led by Professor Niamh Fitzgerald at the University of Stirling, and was also co-authored by colleagues at the University of Sheffield and the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS).
Using data from SAS, the team of researchers were able to build a highly accurate algorithm that searched paramedic notes in patient records for references to alcohol. Applying this automated method to records from 2019, they found that one in six ambulance callouts (16.2%) was alcohol-related. This rose to over one in four (28.2%) at weekend nighttimes (6pm to 6am).
