LONDON, Dec. 18 (UPI) — Police and paramedics in England are preparing themselves for a spike in alcohol consumption as residents celebrate during what is known as “Mad Friday.”
Mad Friday represents the last working Friday of the holiday season and is often accompanied by office parties and other celebrations.
The BBC reported an increase of 142% in alcohol sales on Mad Friday in 2014 and anticipate alcohol sales for December might reach $3.4 billion.
The London Ambulance Service is anticipating more than 700 alcohol-related incidents this year after attending to as many as 32 in one hour the year prior.
“Most patients we look after have nothing wrong with them medically and just need a safe place to sober up,” London Ambulance Service director Paul Woodrow told International Business Times. “But excessive drinking can cause injuries, like sprains and cuts and impair judgement putting people at risk as well as the long-term health impacts it may have.”
In response to the binge drinking that accompanies Mad Friday a campaign promoting abstinence from alcohol known as “Dry January” has emerged.
“A period of abstinence could encourage less harmful, better drinking habits in the long-term,” Dr. Yvonne Doyle of Public Health England told the BBC. “Even six months later, evidence from Dry January shows that more than two-thirds of participants are still drinking less.”
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