London sets up booze bus as execs celebrate bonuses
THE London Ambulance Service has set up a mobile treatment centre in the financial district and a ‘booze bus’ in the West End to cope with the masses of workers celebrating record bonuses this year.
By Agencies |
LONDON: THE London Ambulance Service has set up a mobile treatment centre in the financial district and a ‘booze bus’ in the West End to cope with the masses of workers celebrating record bonuses this year. The field hospital in Finsbury Circus, the heart of the City of London, is designed to relieve pressure on ambulances and emergency rooms elsewhere, the Ambulance Service said in an emailed statement. It expects ‘substantially’ more than 30,000 revellers to descend on the area.
“It’s not an excuse for people to go out and get drunk,” said Alex Bass, a spokesman for the Ambulance Service. “It’s to provide the appropriate care, and free up the ambulance services for more serious calls.”
The 1 million people working in Britain’s financial services industry have had one of their best-ever years after a flurry of mergers. London’s bankers may earn a record £8.8 billion ($17.3 billion) in bonuses this year, the London-based Centre for Economics and Business Research said on October 30.
“Turnover tonight has been great,” said Devin Veres, manager of Tabernacle, a bar and restaurant near the treatment centre on Thursday. “We have a lot of local businesses having parties and lunches here. It’s obviously been a good year.”
Bars in the “Shoreditch triangle” area, stretching from Hoxton Square to the Bank of England, have been given a telephone number on which to summon non-emergency vehicles that will take those suffering from excess to the clinic.
“The Thursday and Friday before Christmas is traditionally a very busy period for us,” said paramedic Jason Killens at the treatment centre. “Last Friday, emergency calls were up by 15%. We need to look at alternate ways of dealing with that demand.”
Last night, a trader from Royal Bank of Scotland was taken to hospital after he was brought to the centre from his Christmas party. He had fallen onto a table of glasses and had cuts on his face.
He was followed by a young man in jeans who appeared drunk. On arrival, he tried to fashion an offensive gesture with his fingers and waved his hand when co-ordination failed. After a few minutes, he refused treatment and walked away. He was followed an hour later by a middle-aged man whose eye was patched up by the paramedics.
The centre treated 18 people last night, four of whom were then sent to hospital. “There were some lacerations, and injuries from assaults were in the minority,” said ambulance service spokesman Craig Macpherson. “Most of them had just fallen over.”
“It saved at least 18 emergency ambulances being sent out,” Macpherson said.
Hedge-fund managers who spend too much time in the drinking haunts of Mayfair, the world’s most expensive business location, will have support from a ‘booze bus’ patrolling the city’s West End. The vehicle can take up to five people to hospital when emergency treatment isn’t necessary en route, Bass said.
Mayfair and St James’s have become the prime location for hedge funds as money managers look for offices closer to districts such as Kensington and Chelsea, where many of them live.
The clinic in Finsbury Circus was set up yesterday and will operate today and from December 29 until New Year’s Day, Bass said. “We have been forced into the position of providing this mobile treatment centre,” ambulance operations manager Michael Pearce said. “Some people don’t think about the consequences of getting so drunk that they can‘t take responsibility for their own safety and welfare.”
“It’s not an excuse for people to go out and get drunk,” said Alex Bass, a spokesman for the Ambulance Service. “It’s to provide the appropriate care, and free up the ambulance services for more serious calls.”
The 1 million people working in Britain’s financial services industry have had one of their best-ever years after a flurry of mergers. London’s bankers may earn a record £8.8 billion ($17.3 billion) in bonuses this year, the London-based Centre for Economics and Business Research said on October 30.
“Turnover tonight has been great,” said Devin Veres, manager of Tabernacle, a bar and restaurant near the treatment centre on Thursday. “We have a lot of local businesses having parties and lunches here. It’s obviously been a good year.”
Bars in the “Shoreditch triangle” area, stretching from Hoxton Square to the Bank of England, have been given a telephone number on which to summon non-emergency vehicles that will take those suffering from excess to the clinic.
“The Thursday and Friday before Christmas is traditionally a very busy period for us,” said paramedic Jason Killens at the treatment centre. “Last Friday, emergency calls were up by 15%. We need to look at alternate ways of dealing with that demand.”
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Last night, a trader from Royal Bank of Scotland was taken to hospital after he was brought to the centre from his Christmas party. He had fallen onto a table of glasses and had cuts on his face.
He was followed by a young man in jeans who appeared drunk. On arrival, he tried to fashion an offensive gesture with his fingers and waved his hand when co-ordination failed. After a few minutes, he refused treatment and walked away. He was followed an hour later by a middle-aged man whose eye was patched up by the paramedics.
The centre treated 18 people last night, four of whom were then sent to hospital. “There were some lacerations, and injuries from assaults were in the minority,” said ambulance service spokesman Craig Macpherson. “Most of them had just fallen over.”
“It saved at least 18 emergency ambulances being sent out,” Macpherson said.
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Hedge-fund managers who spend too much time in the drinking haunts of Mayfair, the world’s most expensive business location, will have support from a ‘booze bus’ patrolling the city’s West End. The vehicle can take up to five people to hospital when emergency treatment isn’t necessary en route, Bass said.
Mayfair and St James’s have become the prime location for hedge funds as money managers look for offices closer to districts such as Kensington and Chelsea, where many of them live.
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The clinic in Finsbury Circus was set up yesterday and will operate today and from December 29 until New Year’s Day, Bass said. “We have been forced into the position of providing this mobile treatment centre,” ambulance operations manager Michael Pearce said. “Some people don’t think about the consequences of getting so drunk that they can‘t take responsibility for their own safety and welfare.”
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