Sobering-up station

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A sobering-up station (Czech: Protialkoholní záchytná stanice, commonly known as Záchytka) is a medical facility in which intoxicated people can spend one night to become sober under medical control, in the Czech Republic,Russia and Poland. Those in need of more long-term treatment will be referred to a rehabilitation center.

Sobering-up stations were invented by the psychiatrist Jaroslav Skála. The first sobering-up station was opened in Czechoslovakia in 1951;^[1] its first patient was a Russian naval engineer.^[2] During its first 30 years of service, Prague's sobering-up station treated over 180,000 people. Other facilities in the country treated over 1,000,000 people. During its peak in Czechoslovakia, there were over 63 sobering-up stations.^[3]