Over 70 people a day need emergency care as a result of smoking and vaping, according to figures from 67 hospital emergency departments across the country.

Last year, hospitals agreed to count the number of people who came to emergency departments with smoking related problems in a single 24-hour period in November. In total, the departments provided emergency care to 4,314 people aged 12 and over and over 2,000 of them were prepared to participate in a survey about their nicotine use.

The majority of the respondents, some 86%, smoked cigarettes, 9% used vapes, 9% smoked cigars and 5% used other products containing nicotine, such as snus or roll-ups. 10% said they consumed several nicotine-containing products.

“We saw people coming in with heart problems, a stroke, a collapsed lung or breathlessness every single day but we could never put an official figure on it,” emergency department doctor Nicole Kraaijvanger told RTL Nieuws.

The figures don’t come as a surprise, she said, and tally more or less with those of addiction institute Trimbos. “The finding that stands out is that in over half of the patients, doctors could see the link between the problem and nicotine use. In some cases, it played a part, and in others it was the sole explanation,” she said.

In 7% of the people, the problems were completely due to nicotine use, particularly when the lungs were affected. In 44% of people with lung problems, smoking and vaping were at least partly responsible.

The figures mean that some 26,500 people a year end up needing emergency care due to nicotine use and in another 193,000 smoking and vaping played a part in their health problem, the doctors say.

The real numbers are probably higher, Kraaijeveld said. “We could not ask some of the worst cases to do the survey,” she said.

The survey also showed that emergency departments can help people quit smoking and some 47% of the respondents said they would be willing to try.

“We can then explain the consequences of smoking to them and point them in the direction of organisations that will help them. People who are actively told where they can get help are 17 times more likely to stop than if they are just given a folder,” Kraaijveld said.

More certified programmes to quit smoking are included in the basic healthcare package from this year.