The police in Patras made 104 arrests for various crimes, during controls during the three days of Shrove Tuesday, with the aim of preventing theft, drug trafficking, and combating illegal trade.

In particular, according to the police, from February 24 until this morning, 2,092 people were arrested and 233 people were brought to the police services.

Finally, they were arrested 104 peopleof which 62 for possession of drugs, 13 for violation of arms legislation, because they possessed knives and folding knives, eight people for theft, four for street trading and 17 for other crimes.

Also seized were 145.4 grams of cannabis, 15.7 grams of cocaine, 2.3 grams of heroin and 20 drug tablets.

At the same time, during the checks, 367 violations of the Road Traffic Code were confirmed, 40 violations for driving under the influence of alcohol, but also 24 violations of article 47 of the Criminal Code, for the operation of outdoor grills.

Regarding the fight against illegal trade, 1,040 carnival items and bottles of drinks were confiscated during the controls.

Also, according to the police, increased traffic measures are still being taken, both on the highway Patras – Athensas well as the provincial road network, for the safe return of visitors.

As much enthusiasm prevailed, initially, for the dynamic return of the Patrinos Carnival – as a mass event that attracts tens of thousands of visitors – another as much concern began to manifest itself, soon, about the quality of the image that went out, emphasizes in a relevant report of the Peloponnese.

The restaurant industry is in turmoil, as this massiveness does not leave a positive impression on businesses as a whole.

Most of the visitors were very young people, enjoying themselves in the streets and squares, usually with a can of beer in hand or a bottle of quality black bay.

The president of SKEANA, Tasos Giatras, said to “Peloponnisos”: “The Patrinos Carnival of 2023 went down in history by recording a large attendance as well as an unprecedented participation of carnivalists in the parades. I think that, more mature than ever, we should speak honestly about how we deal with the institution as professionals, as citizens and as a city that seeks extroversion, opportunistically with characteristics of sloppiness and tolerance for indecency. SKEANA will be officially installed in the next few days in detail about everything”.

About 600 incidents the sanitary apparatus of Patras was called to manage the three days of the Carnival. On Sunday night alone, more than 300 were recorded, of which four remained hospitalized.

The majority involved incidents of drunkenness, followed by minor injuries, respiratory injuries, substance use and panic attacks.

Hospitals, EKAV, Health Centers of the Northern and Southern Sectors and the Patras Department of the EES managed, within the framework of the cooperation they had developed under the coordination of the commander of the 6th Health Region Giannis Karvelis, to effectively cover all the incidents that arose and only four required hospitalization.

“The results show that the mechanism we developed worked effectively. Tomorrow we will have a meeting of all the agencies we cooperated with in order to make an assessment of our project and the operation of the project. The aim is to point out any negative points although everything suggests that this plan should be a guide for covering corresponding events” said the commander of the 6th Health Region, Yannis Karvelis.

During the three days the following were recorded:

⦁ In the two hospitals, “Agios Andreas” and the University Hospital of Patras, a total of over 400 cases passed through the Emergency Departments (EDs), which were not only from the carnival. Incidents of minor injuries, substance use, etc. were transferred from the carnival.

⦁ In particular, on Sunday night, 15 cases were transferred to the surgical intensive care unit of “Agios Andreas” and the same number, on the same day, to the surgical intensive care unit of the PGNP.

⦁ EKAV was able to transfer cases to both Health Centers (Agios Alexios and Zarouchleikon), so the hospitals were not particularly pressured.

⦁ The role played by the Emergency Department that was set up in the upper part of Georgiou Square by the EES was decisive. Mr. Karvelis additionally equipped this Department with defibrillators, materials for suturing wounds and other necessary equipment from the hospitals as well as doctors, so that incidents can be dealt with on the spot.

⦁ Hospital admissions were very limited as they did not exceed four.

“To the above data we should add that the neighboring hospitals, Pyrgos, Agrinio and Messolongio, also worked very well. We had agreed to avoid transfers on three days so that the hospitals of Patras would not have an extra load and the EKAB would have its units available for Patras” explains Mr. Karvelis and concludes: “The main thing is that the specific planning that we have succeeded in avoiding the suffering of the people. Anyone who needed help got it immediately. All fronts worked smoothly so we avoided grumbling. At this point we owe public thanks to the EES, the local branch and its volunteers who worked well organized”.

Panic on Monday mornings

With 200 volunteers who over the last two months attended seminars and were trained specifically for the sanitary coverage of the carnival, the Patras Department of the EAC participated in the three-day event.

Led by the leader of the Samaritan Volunteer Corps Dimitris Haliotis and the administrative care of the director of the local Department, Angeliki Giannakopoulos, the 200 red rescuers worked in an organized, methodical and efficient manner.

“We essentially operated an outdoor Emergency Department with the assistance and cooperation of the 6th Health District. Also, our nurses and our doctor kept the First Aid Station open, where many cases were also treated. All our volunteers worked flawlessly, so we covered all the incidents,” Ms. Giannakopoulou told us.

As for the hardest day, that was the early hours of Monday. “The quietest day was Friday and the incidents we covered did not exceed 50. On Saturday the incidents multiplied as we reached 200 and on Sunday morning of Holy Monday we exceeded 300. The highest volume and the most difficult part was yesterday from 3 dawn and later. The incidents were too many and massive. Luckily they were all covered».

SOURCE: SKAIGR-PELOP