EMS readies for holiday

Emergency services personnel are preparing for the double trouble that this year's Friday night Halloween might bring them.

Alcohol-related emergencies are already more prevalent during the weekends and Halloween could put additional strain on services said Jeff Strickler" administrative director of UNC Emergency Medical Services.

""We've always been very concerned about Halloween" he said.

When you consider the fact that this event is on a weekend" it's a little bit of a perfect storm for us.""

Chapel Hill officials are aiming to downsize the Halloween celebrations this year by shutting down a park-and-ride shuttle" decreasing parking availability and operating a bus to get partygoers out of the Franklin Street area and back to their apartment complexes.

Town officials also are negotiating with local bars to limit the serving of alcohol on the night of Oct. 31. Bar owners say that drunk people on Halloween aren't spilling onto Franklin from bars but are coming into downtown already intoxicated.

On Halloween Franklin Street has its own channel at the dispatch center because of the large number of emergency calls the police station gets.

Frank Montes de Oca Orange County emergency services director said the increased number of calls from partygoers for extra aid to be brought in from different regions of the state. But he said there are always sufficient EMS services.

Strickler said that on Halloween EMS easily sees twice as many cases than on a normal night and about half of the trauma patients have alcohol-related injuries.

For the event UNC Hospitals sets up a field hospital in a campus building lobby to observe and assess patients quickly.

Last year there were about 25 to 30 patients in the field hospital which usually stays open until about 3 a.m. Strickler said.

Lt. Everett Clendenin of the N.C. Highway Patrol said despite the large number of participants which last year was about 800" drinking laws will be enforced and people will be charged if they are caught.

Chapel Hill Police Chief Brian Curran said most drinkers are targeted because they carry their alcohol with them.

""All the red and blue cups"" he said. They don't fool anybody.

""It's not rocket science.""

Halloween is always planned well in advance. Curran said there are usually anywhere from 350 to 400 officers on the blocked-off section of Franklin Street alone.

But until Halloween arrives" EMS" police and hospital services will be busy preparing themselves for the oncoming ""perfect storm.""

""Halloween is a big event for emergency services in Chapel Hill"" Strickler said.

That fear and concern is always there.""



Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.