HIGH summer is with us and for many Liverpudlians this means afternoons at the Whitlam Leisure Centre, backyard barbecues or evenings at pubs and clubs.

But for the local paramedics, summer means drunks, fire hazards and heat exhaustion.

Paramedic Caroline Williamson worked the New Year's Eve evening shift and said night and public holidays were always ``pretty crazy''.

``It's very busy a lot of drunks,'' she said. ``We expect no downtime. It's amazing the number of drunk under-ages we treat who drink to a point where they pass out. They have a decreased sense of safety and wellbeing.''

Miss Williamson said drugs were also a local problem and came ``in peaks and troughs''.

``You can tell when a good batch of drugs has come in it gets busy for us,'' she said. ``It's frustrating going to treat people who, if they'd used common sense, wouldn't be in that situation.''

Paramedics have also warned of the potential hazards of backyard barbecues.

Paramedics say they are called to several barbecue-related accidents each summer, some resulting in very severe injuries.

``In one case a young man put an accelerant on the barbecue which then splashed on to him,'' a spokeswoman said.

``He was set alight, causing severe burns to his hands, leg and chest and he spent months recovering.''