Melbourne Cup tops Victorian sporting calendar for alcohol intoxication and assaults
by:
Lucie van den Berg From:
Herald Sun November 01, 2012
12:00AM
THE race that stops the nation also signals the start of the state's worst sporting event for boozing, assaults and serious accidents.
For the first time a link has been made between specific sporting events and alcohol-related harm.
The research reveals the Melbourne Cup is the worst event on the Victorian sporting calendar for alcohol intoxication and assaults.
The AFL Grand Final is a close second.
VicHealth, Eastern Health and Turning Point analysed data from ambulance, police, hospitals and car accidents from 2000-09.
It shows a spike in alcohol-related emergency department presentations and ambulance call-outs in Melbourne the day before the Melbourne Cup.
Researchers said it was most likely as a result of people anticipating they would have a day to recover.
The data looked at the Melbourne Cup, Formula One Grand Prix, cricket, AFL, soccer, Commonwealth Games and the World Cup soccer final.
Alcohol incidents peak in November and December, as well as Fridays and Saturdays.
On Saturdays there was an average of 25 ambulance presentations, 13 emergency department presentations and seven admissions for intoxications. This was compared with an average Monday, on which there were 10, five and four respectively.
Car accidents hit a high the day before the Melbourne Cup and the AFL Grand Final.
VicHealth alcohol expert Bruce Bolam said Australians needed to sever the link between alcohol and sport.
"It's really disturbing that these numbers really reflect a wide acceptance that sport and alcohol are bedfellows," Dr Bolam said.
Turning Point's Belinda Lloyd said socialising and enjoying a drink on a holiday was not problematic.
"We are talking about significant harms, people ending up in ... an ambulance, in a hospital bed or in the back of a police van, and that is not what most people intended when they set out," Dr Lloyd said.
VicHealth wants alcohol advertising on TV at a sporting event to be closed to protect children.
lucie.vandenberg@news.com.auhttp://www.news.com.au/national/melbourne-cup-tops-victorian-sporting-calendar-for-alcohol-intoxication-and-assaults/story-fndo4cq1-1226507817672