More than 600 revelers treated for booze binge in Carnival party town

Over 600 revelers had to receive medical treatment in the western port city Patra over the three-day Carnival weekend as a result of excessive alcohol consumption, regional health authorities reported on Tuesday.

Speaking to Skai, the head of Patras’ sixth health district, Yiannis Karvelis, confirmed that hospitals and emergency services – which had been put on alert in anticipation of the massive influx of partygoers from across the country to the city of roughly 200,000 – treated more than 600 patients who passed out, injured themselves or experienced trouble breathing after drinking too much. Drugs were also involved in several cases, he said.

Karvelis added that of those 600-odd patients, half were admitted in hospitals in Patra and the broader vicinity on Sunday alone, during the peak of the city’s annual festivities.

Thanks to the health services’ prompt response, he said, only four people admitted to a hospital for alcohol-related reasons had to stay for further treatment.

“The results show that the mechanism we developed was effective. All the different agencies that worked together will be meeting tomorrow to take stock of what we accomplished and how the plan worked,” Karvelis said.

“The aim is to identify any potential shortfalls, though everything points to the fact that this plan could act as a guide in covering other similar events,” he added.