They’re called “superusers,” and in 2015 alone, the top 40 superusers in Los Angeles accounted for about 2,000 emergency responses.
“When ambulances are responding to these individuals — sometimes the same individual two times a day, taking the same patient to an ER twice in one day — that ambulance is not available to respond to the rest of the community,” said Los Angeles Fire Department Medical Director and physician Marc Eckstein.
According to Eckstein, 60 percent of those top 40 superusers last year identified as alcoholics.
“These people aren’t getting the help that they need because they typically get work up in the emergency department, they sober up, and then they leave,” Eckstein explained. “They’re not getting into detox. They’re not getting housed, and our paramedics are getting tied up, and the ERs are already overcrowded.”
Spokespeople for the Long Beach and Pasadena Fire Departments also said alcohol plays a large role in the number of calls their departments receive.