Canberra's emergency department workers are bracing for a busy Thursday with Australia Day recognised as an occasion of "over-indulgence".
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A study published in the Medical Journal of Australia this month found alcohol-related presentations on January 26 were higher in Australia than on the same day in New Zealand.
An ACT Health spokeswoman said Australia Day last year saw fewer presentations than on January 25, but Calvary Hospital emergency department consultant David Caldicott said workers approached the national holiday with caution.
"Australia Day is an event which for some people marks an occasion for over-indulgence, so we will see all around Australia people presenting to emergency departments with not only the direct consequences of excessive consumption of alcohol but also the indirect consequences," Dr Caldicott said.
"Everyone in Australia is praying for a hot, sunny Australia Day - the exception to that is any poor bastard working in an emergency department."
Dr Caldicott said Australia Day followed "the evolution of intoxication" and became steadily busier as the day went on.
Drunk people could be difficult to deal with, he said.
"People who are alcoholically intoxicated are frequently violent towards their carers," he said.
"You'd have to be a different species not to feel the ingratitude and unfortunately it's our nursing staff who bear the brunt of the abuse."
Deakin University violence prevention and addiction studies professor Peter Miller said a study into the alcohol consumption of people presenting to emergency departments found Australia Day, New Year's Eve and Christmas holidays were particularly busy times.
He reminded people that alcohol took time to process.
"If you think you're ok now, you've got to think about the fact in an hour your body's peaking," he said.
"The key thing is to look out for that and there's not a need to drink and there's not a need to get heavily intoxicated."
Dr Caldicott described himself as a "firm believer in moderation".
"There is no benefit to your body, to the people around you, to anyone at all for you to go out and get pissed and get run over," he said.
"We're here for you if you need us but if there's a way you can avoid us that'd be smashing."
