@article{20f80ed561a1436ebc4ca7cc4a8ab4a1,
title = "The impact of late-night alcohol restrictions on ambulance call-outs in entertainment precincts",
abstract = "Introduction: In July 2016, the Queensland Government introduced the Tackling Alcohol-Fuelled Violence (TAFV) policy to address alcohol-related harm in entertainment precincts [safe night precincts (SNP)]. Additional measures were introduced in February and July 2017. We aim to examine the impact of the policy on Queensland Ambulance Service call-outs in Fortitude Valley, Surfers Paradise, all 15 SNP suburbs combined and statewide. Methods: Auto-regressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models and seasonal ARIMA (SARIMA) models were developed to test the impact of TAFV policy stages on monthly number of ambulance call-outs during high alcohol hours (HAH; Friday and Saturday nights, 20:00–05:59) over an 8-year period (July 2011–June 2019). Results: The average number of monthly call-outs in HAH reduced by 26.2% in Fortitude Valley, 21.1% in Surfers Paradise and 4.3% in all 15 SNP suburbs combined. In Fortitude Valley, there was a significant decline in the monthly number of call-outs between 00:00 and 02:59 and across all HAH combined when examining the cumulative effect of the policy stages; and significant declines between 03:00 and 05:59 after each stage and cumulatively. Across the 15 SNP suburbs combined, there was a significant decline in call-outs between 03:00 and 05:59 after the third policy stage (July 2017). There were no significant declines in Surfers Paradise or statewide. Discussion and Conclusions: Overall, the introduction of the TAFV policy stages in Queensland had a limited effect on ambulance call-outs during HAH. However, there were some notable declines in HAH ambulance call-outs in some of the state's key nightlife suburbs.",
keywords = "alcohol, ambulance call-out, emergency medical system, policy evaluation, trading hour",
author = "{de Andrade}, Dominique and Kerri Coomber and Michael Livingston and Nicholas Taylor and Foruhar Moayeri and Miller, {Peter G.} and Jason Ferris and Cheneal Puljevi{\'c} and Richelle Mayshak and Debbie Scott",
note = "Funding Information: The QUANTEM project was funded by an Australian Research Council Linkage grant (LP160100067), the Queensland Government, Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education, Australian Rechabites Foundation and Lives Lived Well. This study was additionally funded by an Australian Institute of Criminology research grant (47 16‐17), of which authors PGM and DS are chief investigators; and by the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services that provides funding for ambulance data coding. We would like to thank Queensland Ambulance Service for the provision of data, especially Jamie Quinn. Funding Information: The authors confirm that there are no financial declarations to be made, and no competing interests, relevant to this study. Funding bodies had no involvement in the decision to publish this study. PGM receives funding from Australian Research Council and Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, grants from NSW Government, National Drug Law Enforcement Research Fund, Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education, Cancer Council Victoria, Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, Northern Territory government, Australian Rechabites Foundation, Northern Territory Primary Health Network, Lives Lived Well, Queensland Government and Australian Drug Foundation, travel and related costs from Queensland Police Service, Queensland Office of Liquor Gaming and Racing and the Australasian Drug Strategy Conference. PGM's contribution in this study is covered by Australian Research Council Discovery Grant DP150100441. He has acted as a paid expert witness on behalf of a licensed venue and a security firm. KC receives funding from Australian Research Council, Queensland Government and Northern Territory Government. JF receives funding from Australian Research Council and Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, funding from Queensland Government, Department of Health, Tasmanian Department of Health, Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education, Criminology Research Council, VicHealth, travel and related costs from Queensland Police Service. ML is a member of the board of the Australian Rechabites Foundation, and has received funding from FARE and government research grants. DS receives grant funding from Google.org, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the Commonwealth Department of Health and the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",
year = "2021",
month = jul,
doi = "10.1111/dar.13308",
language = "English",
volume = "40",
pages = "708--716",
journal = "Drug and Alcohol Review",
issn = "0959-5236",
publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell",
number = "5",
}
