What is happening in sobering-up stations? “Many say goodbye and come back”

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Shocked by gas, pummeled with fists and truncheons
The truth and myths about “sobering up”

Some say “goodbye” and return to “sobering up” the next night. Others displace addiction, and addiction therapy is chosen by a few. Nearly half of the so-called sobering-up stations are people addicted to alcohol, homeless. After sobering up, they tell the staff “goodbye”. They know that they will get a warm accommodation here, coffee, medical care. For those who went there for the first time in their lives, the experience can be so traumatic that they decide to start addiction therapy.

In the Wrocław Center for Assistance to Intoxicated Persons, a young Ukrainian was hit by gas, punched with a truncheon and strangled by policemen and an employee of the center. Unfortunately, the final was tragic – Dmytro Nikiforenko died.
The event could consolidate the belief in Poles that sobering-up stations are places where violence is used against drunk people, inadequate to the situation
It happens that extremely aggressive people are brought to the sobering-up center, threatening their life or health. They throw their full body weight on windows and doors. They devastate the equipment
In such cases, coercive measures provided for by law are used, i.e. temporary immobilization, the so-called belts. – All this to enable a given person to sober up safely – explains Sławomir Nowicki, director of the Warsaw Center for Drunken Persons
Who goes to the “sobering up” and what does such a stay look like?
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«Sobering-up stations» under this name have not been operating in Poland for a long time. In recent years, municipal governments have decided about the new nomenclature. These include, for example, the Szczecin Addiction Prevention Center or the Center for Drunken Persons in Poznań.

In Krakow, charges are sober at the Municipal Center for Addiction Prevention, which is located nomen omen – at ul. Entertainment 1. And in the capital of Lower Silesia, at Sokolnicza Street – there is the Wrocław Center for Assistance to Persons intoxicated.

Shocked by gas, pummeled with fists and truncheons

The latter became famous this fall: thanks to the journalistic investigation by Jacek Harłukowicz from the Wrocław Gazeta Wyborcza, it was revealed that 25-year-old Dmytro Nikiforenko died there as a result of police intervention.

It was in this facility that a Ukrainian was hit with gas, beaten with fists and truncheons, and strangled by policemen and an employee of the center. This was confirmed by the monitoring that «Wyborcza» reached.

The truth and myths about “sobering up”

This tragic event could perpetuate numerous stereotypes in Poles and confirm the belief that sobering-up stations are places where violence is used against intoxicated people: they are tied with belts, beaten, poured with cold water from a hose, and in addition they robbed.

Meanwhile, the procedures to be applied to drunk people are strictly defined by the provisions of the Act on Upbringing in Sobriety and Counteracting Alcoholism.

We ask Sławomir Nowicki, the director of the Warsaw Center for Drunken Persons, how does sober up drunk people look in practice and what medical procedures are carried out in dedicated facilities.

The rest of the text is below the video.

Edyta Brzozowska, Medonet: Do you call people under the influence of alcohol who go to the famous Kolska Street in Warsaw to sober up?

Sławomir Nowicki: Nothing could be more wrong. For a simple reason: there are no “patients” with us, because we do not provide medical services. We are not a medical facility within the meaning of the Healthcare Act and we do not have a contract with the National Health Fund.

Anyway, none of the facilities we call “sobering-up rooms” out of habit is strictly a medical facility. So those who come to us are not patients, but “led persons”.

However, each such facility employs, among others, doctors.

The task of the doctors on duty is to assess the health condition of the person in contact and to provide a medical opinion as to whether or not they qualify for a stay in our center.

If, for health reasons, he is not qualified, we call the medical transport crew, who hand over the person to the medical facility. Most often he goes to the emergency department of the nearest hospital.

But the duty is not only performed by doctors. We work around the clock, and each 12-hour shift consists of – apart from the shift manager, depositaries and guardians – also a nurse or paramedic.

What may disqualify people being brought in for sobering up?

Most often, these are various cuts or open fractures that require the intervention of a surgeon. There are also people with symptoms of acute alcohol poisoning. It is a serious condition that interferes with the rhythm of the heartbeat, causing breathing problems, loss of consciousness, and seizures. There are also people who are very exhausted from long-term alcohol consumption.

What is the minimum number of alcoholic drinks a person who is intoxicated must have to be in the sobering-up center?

The state of intoxication is defined by law: it is at least half a per mille. Anyone who poses a threat to themselves and other people can hit Kolska. And also anyone who, while intoxicated, causes a scandal in a public place. However, I make a reservation: people who have more than 4 per mille of alcohol are sent to the hospital. We test the blood alcohol level using an approved alcohol meter. In addition, of course, we have full life saving equipment, including defibrillators, cardiac monitors, etc. If necessary, resuscitation is undertaken immediately.

What do those who spent several hours on the “sobering up” say?

Nearly half of our customers say “goodbye”. Especially in the fall and winter months when the nights are cold. They know very well that they have warm accommodation, hot coffee, medical care and that they are not in any danger here. These are people permanently addicted to alcohol, mostly homeless.

Of course, we suggest that every person leaving the center is sober, talking to a psychologist who encourages them to start therapy. However, they often do not want to meet such a meeting, preferring to stick to their way of life. They are not going to change it.

And those who went to such a place for the first time in their lives?

It can be said that for them such an experience can be traumatic. Strong enough that some of them decide to start therapy. Although they usually convince: “I have no problem with alcohol at all”. And that they found themselves in the sobering-up center “by accident”. They say they overdid it, it just happened to them once.

See also: Having a problem with alcohol? Here are seven worrying symptoms

All centers like the one on ul. Kolska, have something called the Alcohol Breaking Department in their structures. What do the employees of such departments do?

The Department of Breaking Alcohol Chases works for people declaring their will to stop drinking alcohol and start further treatment. However, we do not conduct constant therapy, we do not have therapeutic groups. This type of activity is carried out by medical facilities.

We employ psychologists whose task is to persuade as many people as possible leave us for permanent addiction therapy. Whether they like it or not – we give them leaflets with the addresses of the appropriate clinics, we indicate places where they can get help in a broad sense. Not only that, we arrange a specific day and time with a specific therapist for those who show even minimal interest.

In addition, at DPCA we run the so-called detox for people who, on their own or at the instigation of their loved ones, decide to start therapy and start it with sobering up.

Also read: How long does alcohol stay in the body? How long does a detox take?

Do you know how many people ultimately reached addiction therapists to use their help?

Due to the lack of feedback, it is difficult for me to estimate the percentage of people who decide to take the first step towards sobriety with us. Most of the “new” people say they are addicted to alcohol. On the other hand, frequent visitors most often do not want to change the chosen way of life. As a curiosity, one of our former patients recorded a CD and thanked one of his songs for finding a new beginning in his life thanks to us. Such events motivate us.

There were legends about the Warsaw sobering-up center, there was talk of the “pathological Kolska”.

I hope that the myth of the “pathological Kolska” is slowly becoming a thing of the past. For six years, that is from the time when I manage the facility, I have been running the so-called an open door policy. Until the pandemic, as part of broadly understood prevention, groups of high school youth, law students, social rehabilitation students, psychology students, etc., organized by schools with the consent of their parents, came to us, so that they could see for themselves what the consequences are. alcohol abuse and what are the symptoms of alcoholism. And let them find out that our facility is not a medieval dungeon, where violence and insensitivity reign.

What if some unbeliever happens?

We have 76 cameras. Which means that everything, the entire stay in the Center, except toilets and medical examination, is recorded. Audio / video recordings are analyzed on an ongoing basis. In case of any disturbing events, I am informed by the appropriate employee.

It is a very effective solution, it is practically not possible that there are complaints about, for example, being robbed on the premises of the Center.

Do you think that the Wrocław case, the consequence of which was the death of Dmytro Nikiforenko at the local Drunken People Relief Center, will perpetuate in Poles the stereotype of sobering-up stations – as they are commonly called – as places of torture?

I will answer this way: before the pandemic, we were taking 24. people a year. Now – about 18, but we actually have 2-3 deaths a year, most often due to sudden cardiac arrest and despite immediate resuscitation.

Unfortunately, many years of alcohol abuse destroy the human body so much that it eventually dies. There are no miracles, we can’t help it.

Of course, there are situations when we have to apply the law provided for coercive measures, e.g. temporary immobilization of the so-called belts. People who are extremely aggressive towards the employees of the Center are also delivered, threatening their life or health, e.g. throwing their full body weight onto windows, doors or destroying and devastating the room and its equipment. In such cases, we must respond appropriately. All this to enable a given person to sober up safely. This is our basic statutory task.

What is happening in sobering-up stations? “Many say goodbye and come back”

Shocked by gas, pummeled with fists and truncheons

The truth and myths about “sobering up”

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