Low Casualty Count During New Year's Celebrations

(1/6/2007)

While New Year's celebrations in Bali passed without major incident, the annual revelry claimed its bloody toll on the Island's streets and roads.

While authorities report a somewhat more subdued approach to party making than in past years, the Emergency Room at Bali's Sanglah General Hospital treated 73 patients between sunset on New Year's Eve and 7:00 a.m. the following morning. According to reports in the Indonesian-language Bali Post, 60 (82%) of those treated were the result of some degree of intoxication.

Casualties resulting from New Year's celebrations were substantially reduced from the same period in 2005-2006 when 225 patients were treated, of which 61.2% were intoxicated.

A Hospital spokesman said that most of the 73 patients treated over the New Year's Eve were for broken bones and head injuries, with 20 requiring hospitalization. As part of Sanglah's General Hospital emergency preparedness 47 doctors, 50 paramedics and 102 nurses were on duty during the change of year.

A total of 7 people treated through the emergency unit died in 24-hour period starting from sunset on New Year's Eve 2006-2007.