80% of Goa medical college ward's beds occupied by patients of booze-fuelled mishaps (ToI)

TNN | Jul 24, 2014, 02.20 AM ISTBAMBOLIM: Drunken driving has reached worrisome proportions as the number of victims and offenders occupying the beds in Goa medical college (GMC) and hospital's neurosurgery ward is a whopping 80% of the 30-bed facility's total strength.

Doctors said they often have to increase the beds by 10 or more to accommodate the increasing liquor-related accident cases.

Dr Ponraj Sundaram, head of the neurosurgery department, added that at times, when the inflow of patients increases, beds have to be put on the floor to accommodate patients with head injuries.

"A majority of the accident cases (80%) pertain to accidents caused in a drunken stupor," he said, adding that patients with head injuries will have a higher chance of getting blood clots if their liver is in a bad condition due to excessive drinking.

Dr Rajesh Patil, surgeon at GMC who has presented a paper on alcoholism in Goa at various seminars, said the medical institute's casualty department, on an average, receives 7-8 motor vehicle accident cases a week. Of these, at least 5-6 are directly or indirectly influenced by alcohol consumption.

Being a tertiary care centre, he said GMC receives high velocity (involving four-wheelers) and serious cases. "There could be more cases of drunken driving, but if they involve minor injuries they don't reach GMC. They are taken care of at primary health centres and other hospitals," he said, alluding that the total number of drunken driving cases in the state could be much higher.

While there is no study yet on drunken driving in Goa, Prabhakar Timble of MARG, an NGO working towards road safety in Goa, said drunken driving is not a new phenomenon in the state.

"The rise in road accidents in recent years is primarily due to road rage, over- speeding, despicable state of roads and violation of traffic rules by road users. Drunken driving is a contributory factor," said Timble.

He further pointed out that social drinking is on the rise, and late night outings by youth to release the stress and strain of their competitive work environments have become a trend.  http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/80-of-Goa-medical-college-wards-beds-occupied-by-patients-of-booze-fuelled-mishaps/articleshow/38941803.cms