Reducing alcohol-related harm: the untapped potential of pre-hospital care workers (editorial)

Harmful use of alcohol is a major international social and public health problem, responsible for 2.3 million premature deaths worldwide, 4.4% of the global burden of disease and an estimated economic costs between US$210,000 and $665,000 million. Growing recognition of the enormity of the problem has led to national policies and initiatives in a number of countries and indications that the World Health Organisation is soon to embark on a global offensive. Health-care professionals play a vital role in reducing alcohol-related harm; however, to date, efforts have largely focussed on the use of screening and brief interventions by medical practitioners in primary and acute settings. Much less attention has been given to the potential role of other health-care providers, with the exception of recent investigations into the role of staff in emergency department. One group of health-care providers who are in a potentially pivotal position to detect and intervene with patients who engage in risky alcohol consumption, but whose role has not yet been systematically evaluated, is pre-hospital care workers. We explore the potential roles that ambulance officers (AOs), paramedics and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) can play in contributing to the now global impetus to reduce the harmful use of alcohol.