Twenty-one per cent of acutely injured patients at the department reported consuming alcohol in the six hours before their injury. The median amount of alcohol consumed was 6.4 standard drinks.
Alcohol played a much a greater role in violent encounters: 69 per cent of patients who had been intentionally injured by another person had been drinking in the six hours before their injury.
The effects of dealing with drunk, non-compliant patients will be addressed by Professor Michael Ardagh ONZM, of the Christchurch Hospital Emergency Department, today at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) at the Millennium Hotel in Queenstown.
"Managing non-compliant patients can raise very complicated ethical and legal questions," Ardagh said. "These pathways provide a framework for medical staff to work from, so that the decisions they make are rational and in the best interests of all concerned."
The results come just 24 hours after another shocking report, which revealed Aucklanders aged between 60 and 64 were 107 per cent more likely to be hospitalised for alcohol-related harm than people in any other part of the country.
The rates of hospitalisation of people in that age bracket is 144 per 100,000 in the region, compared to 69 per 100,000 in the rest of the country.
The figures were released by the Executive Planning Group, which oversees the implementation of Auckland's Action on Alcohol Plan.
The 2015 snapshot also found that 45-49 year olds in the region were 33 per cent more likely to be hospitalised with a condition that had resulted directly from the consumption of alcohol (139 per 100,000 compared to 105 per 100,000 in the rest of the country).
Overall, Aucklanders were 7 per cent more likely to be hospitalised with alcohol-related harm than people elsewhere in the country.
Rates of late-night assaults, 75 per cent of which are thought to be alcohol-related, were also elevated in Auckland.
Alcohol-involved crashes was the only indicator that had a lower rate.
