‘Ambulances had to be called, it was a whole thing’: How HR leaders deal with too much fun at holiday parties

’Tis the season to be jolly. Just not too jolly—at least not at the company holiday party.

“Ambulances had to be called, it was a whole thing,” Dani Herrera, a talent culture and DEI consultant, said of a situation in which an employee had a little too much to drink at a holiday party. “That person fell down the stairs and, I think, broke a leg or something like that. Not great, friend.”

Herrera has seen it all. And she shared it all—from what she’s seen, to what you, the HR professional, can do should you encounter similar situations—with Kate Noel, SVP and head of people operations at Morning Brew, during a recent episode of HR Brew’s People Person podcast.

The following has been edited for length and clarity.

Have you ever experienced a crazy holiday situation?

So, I’ll start maybe