I.V. Braces for Halloween

Despite the fact that Halloween falls in the middle of the week this year, authorities are ramping up for Isla Vista’s famed Halloween celebration this weekend. Janet O’Neill, spokesperson for Cottage Health System, said that Goleta Valley’s emergency room will be quadruple-staffed.

The Santa Barbara County Fire Department-which plans to have seven extra medical personnel assigned to I.V.-will have an onsite treatment area at Embarcadero Hall in an effort to reduce the number of patients taken to the Goleta Valley ER, which will already have extra beds set up in an auxiliary treatment area.

Sergeant Erik Raney, public information officer for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, said the department will have as many as 200 law enforcement officers on the streets, with staff being drawn from agencies all over the tri-counties. “We will be out in force with uniformed, undercover, and specialized patrols, and there will be zero tolerance for any kind of illegal activity,” he said.

Raney added that minors convicted of alcohol violations will lose their driver’s licenses for one year, with no chance of reinstatement within that time. It will also be easier for police to issue noise violation fines this year.