Leuven (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – University Hospital Gasthuisberg in Leuven prepares for a busy New Year’s Eve. Dries Helsloot warns of alcohol, fireworks, and cold-related injuries; staff work overnight to ensure patient safety.
As VRT News reported, the University Hospital Gasthuisberg in Leuven is preparing for a busy New Year’s Eve. The emergency department expects a rise in patients, mainly due to alcohol.
“People who have drunk too much usually come after midnight, when celebrations are at their peak,”
says Dries Helsloot, head of the emergency department. Extra staff will be on duty, and emergency procedures have been reinforced.
What is UZ Gasthuisberg doing to handle New Year’s Eve in Leuven?
Officials mentioned that earlier in the evening, the emergency room treats different cases. Many patients come with minor injuries from preparing for the holiday at home. Cuts from cooking and accidents with fireworks are the most common before midnight, Helsloot explains.
Dries Helsloot, head of the emergency department at UZ Gasthuisberg in Leuven said,
“In our burn unit, we are prepared for victims who have suffered burns from fireworks.”
This New Year’s Eve, Leuven is expecting freezing weather. Dries Helsloot urges residents to take extra precautions. Helsloot stresses that cold temperatures combined with alcohol can increase the danger of accidents or health problems.
“That worries us,”
says Helsloot.
“We’re seeing drunk people fall on their way home because it’s slippery, and they get injured. Some people are intoxicated and take shelter in a hallway or fall asleep on a bench. Then they can get hypothermia, and that’s dangerous.”
At the same time, the hospital’s emergency department staff will be working through the night. Nurses, doctors, and support staff are prepared for a long and busy night, treating both alcohol-related emergencies and other incidents.
“Try to party together and make sure someone in the group stays sober. You have to take care of each other,”
Dries Helsloot.
Emergency department staff are sacrificing their New Year’s Eve to work.
“A kind word from patients makes us very happy. We’re also making it extra festive in the department with snacks so we can start the new year right.”
Leuven University Hospital, located on the Gasthuisberg site, is part of the larger health care system of UZ Leuven – Belgium’s largest university hospital and one of the major national medical centres that serves patients across all of Belgium, with a focus on promoting health and preventing disease, via the KU Leuven University — Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.
Opened in the 1970s, the Gasthuisberg hospital currently hosts most of the UZ Leuven’s speciality services, all forms of Emergency Care, and research, providing almost 2000 inpatient beds and employing approximately 10,000 healthcare workers.
In 2024, UZ Leuven is expected to conduct hundreds of thousands of outpatient consultations and over 50,000 surgical procedures, as well as tens of thousands of Emergency visits. This makes UZ Leuven one of the busiest hospitals in Belgium. UZ Leuven is also undertaking a major modernisation plan, which includes a €230 million funding commitment that will upgrade the Intensive Care Units, operating rooms, and other key areas of the hospital until 2031.
