Can Intoxicated People Go to a Sobering Center Instead of an Emergency Department?

Patients with uncomplicated intoxication are often transported by emergency medical services (EMS) to an emergency department (ED) for evaluation. A less expensive approach would be to take such patients to a “sobering center,” but the safety of such an alternative is unclear, as underlying medical illnesses can be difficult to ascertain in this population.

San Francisco has a nursing-staffed sobering center, to which adults with acute alcohol intoxication can be referred if they meet low-risk criteria, including normal vital signs, Glasgow Coma Scale score ≥13, no evidence of trauma, and normal blood glucose.

To determine if the sobering center is a safe alternative to an ED for patients with uncomplicated intoxication, researchers reviewed …