PARAMEDIC Steve Blackmore believes increasing incidents of binge drinking are putting the health of others at risk.

Mr Blackmore said the number of calls for ambulances to deal with drunken patients is putting a strain on the ambulance service, while assaults on his staff from drunken patients are on the increase.

Mr Blackmore was speaking as part of Wiltshire Police's OP XS campaign to target excessive drinking. September's theme is alcohol-related death and the effect of alcohol on health.

Mr Blackmore, who is the divisional officer covering Swindon and Marlborough for the Great Western Ambulance Service, said: "The health of the nation is deteriorating. People are drinking at a younger and younger age and it is commonplace for teenagers to be drinking alcohol.

"While our ambulances are tied up dealing with drunks there are lots of other people who are waiting for an ambulance.

"People with heart attacks may be downgraded so we can attend someone who has been assaulted in a fight.

"One of the appalling things is the risk that my staff are in and the psychological effect assaults and threats are having on them.

"Staff are experiencing assaults or verbal abuse on almost a weekly basis."

He said a member of staff had just returned from three months off sick after being assaulted by a drunken patient and said in a recent incident a crew member was slapped across the face by the drunken friend of a patient who had fallen down the stairs after drinking at a house in Swindon.

Mr Blackmore said the patient did not require an ambulance and the police were called to deal with the incident.

Mr Blackmore, who has worked for the ambulance service for 29 years, added: "There are areas of Swindon, Trowbridge and Salisbury where the crews will consider calling the police to back them up."

Dr Peter Crouch, of Taw Hill Medical Practice and Wiltshire Police's principal police surgeon, said on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights eight out of 10 attendances at hospital accident and emergency departments were alcohol related.

Mr Blackmore recalled a crash caused by a drink-driver he attended in Paignton, Devon, 15 years ago. He said: "The driver had had seven whiskies before returning to a campsite with his family. He became irritated with slow traffic, decided to overtake and collided head-on with a vehicle carrying seven people, the driver of which died.

"The crash caused the drink-driver's wife to be paralysed from the waist down and she never worked again and one of his children suffered severe leg injuries. The driver walked away with cuts.

"I was so angry with him for what he had done that the one thing I wanted to do was deck him.

"Just a couple of drinks can impair your judgement when you are driving but my advice is you shouldn't have anything in your bloodstream that affects your judgement."

Car wreck rams home warning

A CRASHED car was the centrepiece of an exhibition in Swindon town centre.

Wiltshire Police brought the wreckage of a car which was involved in a drink-driving incident near Corsham last year.

It was displayed under the canopy in The Parade as part of the OP XS anti-drink driving campaign.

In July 2005 the car, a Vauxhall Astra, was hit head-on by the driver of a Peugeot 206, who had been drinking.

The driver of the Astra suffered fatal injuries.

PC Barney Appleton, of the Wiltshire Road Policing Unit, said: "We're here to show people the stark consequences of what happens when you choose to mix alcohol with driving.

"This is one of the few ways left of getting people's attention.

"But the response has been very positive. If we helped stop one person from mixing these two powerful elements, then we've done our job."

But there were mixed feelings among the spectators.

"It shouldn't be dangerous driving' it should be criminal murder,'" said Rob Perkins, of Old Town. "The law's all wrong."

Mark Downs, of Rodbourne Cheney, said: "It's horrific. There's no need to do it, it's not worth it in the end."

The driver of the 206, who proved to be twice over the drink-driving limit, escaped with minor injuries.

He admitted causing death by dangerous driving, is serving a three-year jail sentence and has been banned from driving for five years.

To learn more about the OP XS campaign visit the website www.wiltshire.police.uk.

For more information on the effects of alcohol visit the website at www.drinkaware.co.uk