A sobering-up station (Protialkoholní záchytná stanice, commonly known as Záchytka; Izba wytrzeźwień) 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 introduced in 1904 by Archangelskiy Fedor Sergeevich in Tula. The first sobering-up station in Czechoslovakia was opened in 1951 by the psychiatrist Jaroslav Skála; its first patient was a Russian naval engineer. 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.

References

External links

• History of sobering-up stations