Every year, the City of Zurich hosts the “Street Parade”. This is one of the biggest European “techno parade” dance parties attracting way over a half a million mostly young people who party on a 2 km route along the lakeside of the City. Many of these guests drink alcohol and some eventually consume other drugs (e.g., GHB, Ecstasy, LSD). Combinations of these drugs may affect conscience eventually leading to a critical medical condition. Until recently the emergency-posts at the scene, as well as the emergency rooms of the local hospitals have been “flooded” with such patients, leading to obvious logistical problems.

Over the last years the Ambulance Service of the City of Zurich utilized an unused shelter close to the event scene, where these “intoxicated” mostly young patients were medically supervised and taken care of. The shelter has room for 108 patients. Every patient is first triaged; if a patient suffers from something else than just “intoxication” (e.g., cuts from broken glass) he is sent directly to the hospital for adequate treatment. The patients are then numbered, if needed showered, and receive a bed where they are regularly assessed for pulse, oxygen saturation, blood pressure and GCS by professional personnel. In parallel, if their clothes are dirty, they are washed and dried so the patient will have something clean to dress at the moment of dismissal. The average time of the patients in this shelter is 3 hours 7 minute and the charge is 600 CHF (approx 620 USD). This system has been so helpful for the hospitals, they now supply medical personnel for no cost.

This system of triage and separate medical supervision of “simply” intoxicated patients has been successful in the management of a large number these kind of patients.