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In 2003, an emergency medical services agency in Colorado implemented a program in which paramedics used a checklist to decide whether inebriated individuals could be transported to a detoxification facility instead of an emergency department (ED). People who had no sign of a problem other than simple ethanol intoxication and who could walk unassisted were eligible for checklist evaluation. Researchers reviewed records for people who had checklists completed from 2003 through 2005.
Of 718 inebriated individuals, 138 (19%) were taken to the detox facility. Of these, 11 (8%) were refused admission to detox and taken to the ED. Of the 111 people who were admitted to detox and had complete 12-hour follow-up data, 4 (4%) ultimately required ED ev…