Half as many people were found affected by drinking in this year's alcohol harm snapshot survey. Across 18 New Zealand emergency departments one in eight patients were there because of alcohol-related issues, half of last year's last year's result of one-in-four.
The Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) conducted its fourth annual Alcohol Harm Snapshot Survey at 2am on Saturday, December 16.
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The college's New Zealand faculty chair Dr John Bonning said although it was good to see an improvement, there was still clearly a problem.
"Caring for people with what could be described as self-inflicted harm impacts on our ability to look after other people in ED: the elderly, the very young."