Hospitals, emergency services are ready for St. Patrick’s Day weekend

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - It’s all hands-on deck for emergency response teams in Savannah ahead of St. Patrick’s Day weekend.

Memorial Health doctors are offering tips that will hopefully result in less alcohol-related injuries over the next few days.

“St. Patrick’s Day, when it’s kind of hitting a weekend, the volume is incredible not only for the town but also for the Emergency Department.”

Memorial Doctor Jay Goldstein says they’re prepared with staff and supplies for the weekend. To handle everything, from a rare mass traumatic event to several alcohol related injuries, they often see on St. Patrick’s Day in Savannah.

“Slips and falls or just falls off of curbs, twisted ankles, you’ll see things like that, but we definitely see the severe alcohol intoxication. We see the drug intoxication.”

To avoid a trip to the hospital, he says to drink responsibly. That means following your drinks with water, no drinking and driving, drinking with people you trust, and just being aware.

He says there have been some situations where people mess with drinks left unintended.

“Drinks just in general where they actually slip some type of drug or substance, so we also ask them to be responsible.”

And as Memorial Health says, they’ll be prepared with more staff in the Emergency Room, downtown and near the parade. Chuck Kearns with Chatham Emergency Services says they’ll be quite an emergency response on standby.

“We’ll have four teams on all-terrain vehicles that will be inside the parade route, and they’ll also be deployed in the River Street and Bay Street area and City Market over the next several nights.”

Kearns says there will also be 205 clinicians around those areas. New this year—they’ll also have a disaster mass casualty bus just in case.

“A few years back we had an incident where the interior of a building collapsed and there were people trapped inside, so we’ll have that. We’ll have our disaster supply trailer as well and basically all hands-on deck.”

An all hands on deck approach to do what they can to make sure you’re safe.

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