A MINI field hospital has been set up in Oldham to patch up drunken weekend revellers - the first of its kind in England.
If successful, the scheme could be adopted by towns all over Greater Manchester.
The mobile minor injuries unit was stationed for the first time on busy Yorkshire Street on Saturday night. It was manned by seven St John Ambulance first-aiders working closely with a squad of uniformed police.
The minor injuries unit pilot scheme was launched to help make the town feel safer and to ease the burden on hospital casualty units by dealing with the walking wounded. It will run for a further three weekends but could be extended.
The M.E.N. spent last Saturday evening with the team. Between 7.30pm and 3am on Sunday 12 drink-fuelled revellers who had been involved in fighting were treated for a variety of injuries.
Most were treated at the scene. Three who were more seriously hurt were taken to hospital. The first-aiders also took care of a woman who fell over in Yorkshire Street.
Sgt Gary Wheelhouse, who introduced the unit after hearing about the success of a similar scheme in Swansea, which operates on special occasions only like Christmas and the New Year, said: "Oldham is like any other town centre on a Friday and Saturday night.
"Our pubs and clubs are bustling with people having a drink and a good time. Unfortunately lots of people mixed with too much alcohol can sometimes lead to problems.
Success
"The Minor Injuries Unit is also a great way to get medical attention to those who need it and should take some of the strain off the busy emergency services and hospital.
"First-aiders will be on hand and police officers will stay in the unit throughout the night to keep everyone safe and to help deal with any crime.
"It's been a great success and it just shows what partnership working can do. We are providing a service for the town centre of Oldham and assisting ambulance crews and the hospitals, who instead of dealing with drunks could be saving people's lives."
Police are considering finding a permanent site in or near Yorkshire Street and other towns are keeping a close eye on the scheme.
The Oldham project is paid for by the police and Oldham Council. The first-aiders are volunteers.
St John volunteer Dave Mylett, 26, who is the project's co-ordinator said: "You probably think we are mad but it's well worthwhile. We are getting good training and we are putting something back into the community."
About 8,000 revellers were in 43 licensed premises in or around Yorkshire Street, which is the hub of Oldham's Saturday nightlife.
The unit is the latest phase of a new hands-on style of policing in the town.
The programme has included officers patrolling in pairs and has seen violent incidents fall and a 20 per cent increase in the number of revellers.
Should the scheme be extended to the rest of Greater Manchester? Have your say.
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Like many schemes such as this, it sounds fine until someone wants to situate it near your home...
Whilst this is a fairly good idea, what with all this binge drinking, I think there are other pressing matters to contend with. There is a distinct lack of toilets in most cities and towns late at night, so it could cut down anti-social behaviour if say temporary toilets, maybe similar to Paris and Amsterdam were located in the streets. There are apparently unisex urinals on the market, and this could seriously cut down on the amount of urine in shop doorways and alleys each night. They may be a little public, with little screening from passers by, but go into most cities of a weekend, and you will see both men and women openly urinating in the streets, so whats the difference, except it would be contained and emptied by the council.
While it will doubtless take pressure off A & E departments, it will need valuable resources. The scheme can be viewed as bending over backwards to give help to people who have no control over themselves. If young people can boast about spending B#100+ in a night, how about charging them the same amount for treatment? As I've said before in another post, which other population in the world is so pathetic they need nannying when going out for a drink? I know the facilities will help innocents who are injured by these morons, but it is still a waste of resources that could be used to help those who are ill or have had genuine accidents. While not really a bad idea in the circumstances, it's a very sad reflection on our society.
First of its kind in the country?? Birmingham, wolverhampton, Walsall, Dudley and Solihull all have this scheme in place and has done so for several years.