QAS INSIGHT | Summer 2017-18 edition

Schoolies Week 2017

On November 18, 22,000 school leavers from around Queensland descended on Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast for Schoolies Week celebrations, with overall incident numbers showing an improvement on last year’s event.

The majority of presentations to the Ambulance Treatment Centre (ATC) were to monitor the school-leavers for alcohol intoxication, as well as for minor trauma and soft tissue injuries. The Queensland Health Mental Health tent was again a valuable asset to have within the ATC this year, as it is important that schoolies have ready access to this type of support.

Senior Operations Supervisor and Ambulance Commander for Schoolies 2017 Justin Payne said the schoolies were generally polite and accommodating to all requests from emergency services personnel. “Although alcohol intoxication was a frequent presentation during the week, it was also pleasing to see the Schoolies looking out for each other,” he said. “Unfortunately, it seemed that illicit drug use was more prevalent than in previous years.” Assistant Commissioner John Hammond agreed that Schoolies were generally well behaved this year. He said the majority of drug and alcohol intoxication incidents involving school leavers occurred in the Schoolies ‘hub’ – on the Esplanade and surrounds. “The numbers were down slightly from last year but seemed to follow similar patterns in terms of busy and quiet nights,’’ the AC said. “The Bicycle Response Team (BRT) operated throughout the event this year for the first time and was received extremely well by both the schoolies and other agencies.”

Patient Assessent Count

2017

2015 2016

58

Day 1 Saturday

48 41

84

Day 2 Sunday

68 93

78

Day 3 Monday

83 98

38

Day 4 Tuesday

83 55

4

90

Day 5 Wednesday

96 81

Above ■ Great response to the CPR tutorial on Day 1 of Schoolies. Below ■ The QAS Schoolies team pauses for a group photo before revelries begin in earnest: congratulations everyone, for a great week!

108

Day 6 Thursday

70 78

80

Day 7 Friday

66 104

Daily average

73 79 77

TOTALS

514 550 536

Summer 2017–18