A MAN dialled 999 after a girl stubbed her toe on a Christmas tree.
One other man referred to as the Welsh Ambulance Service to want his pals a merry Christmas, whereas one lady requested for assist for a stinging sensation after shaving her bikini line.
In additional inappropriate 999 calls within the final yr, one man requested for ambulance help to get right into a locked church, whereas one other referred to as with toothache.
The Welsh Ambulance Service has printed an inventory of inappropriate calls from the previous yr to sign the launch of its Be Sensible Save Lives marketing campaign for folks to make use of 999 sensibly because it heads into the busy winter interval.
Of the 470,601 calls acquired within the final yr, 116,674 – virtually 1 / 4 – had been categorised as not critical or instantly life-threatening.
Chief Government Jason Killens stated: “Inappropriate calls to our emergency ambulance service are an issue year-round, however particularly as we head into winter when persons are sicker and we’ve got opposed climate to take care of.
“Our ambulance service exists to assist these whose life is in imminent hazard and for many who are severely ailing or injured.
“Time spent by name handlers tied up with a stubbed toe could possibly be time spent giving CPR directions for somebody in cardiac arrest, or arranging assist for the sufferer of a highway site visitors collision.
“Blocking our treasured assets with most of these calls might actually be a matter of life or loss of life, and our request to the neighborhood is easy; assist us assist you once you want it most and consider carefully earlier than you dial 999.”
Among the many different inappropriate callers to the ambulance service within the final 12 months had been a person with a foul hangover and a girl who needed an STD take a look at after a mishap throughout intercourse.
On a separate event, a gaggle of kids rang 999 to sing Christmas songs to the decision handler earlier than hanging up.
Lee Brooks, the Belief’s Director of Operations, added: “Many of those calls are plain hoax calls, however loads are from individuals who genuinely do not know the place else they’ll flip.
“999 is considered one of many, some ways to hunt medical help so if you happen to’re not severely ailing or injured, take a web based Symptom Checker at www.nhsdirect.wales.nhs.uk or name NHS Direct Wales on 0845 46 47 (or 111 if obtainable in your space) for recommendation and details about the place to show.
“It’s also possible to go to your GP, Pharmacist and Optician, in addition to your native Minor Accidents Unit, the place there isn’t any want for an appointment.
“We started creating our plans as early as March to make sure we’re ready as will be for the busy winter interval, however we’d like the general public to make use of us appropriately so we will ship the most effective service potential throughout this busy time.
“The general public also needs to put together themselves forward of the Christmas interval; for instance, if you happen to depend on medicines, test to ensure these are stocked as the general public holidays can restrict choices for some folks.”
Comply with the marketing campaign on social media utilizing the hashtag #BeWiseSaveLives
Editor’s Notes
Calls to the Welsh Ambulance Service are categorised by way of precedence; RED are critical and instantly life-threatening calls, AMBER are critical however there isn’t any imminent menace to life and GREEN are non-urgent and non-essential calls.
The 116,674 calls non-urgent calls referenced right here had been acquired in the course of the interval 01 October 2018 – 30 September 2019, and had been categorised as ‘GREEN’ calls.
For extra data, please electronic mail Head of Communications Lois.Hough@wales.nhs.uk or name Lois on 01745 778671.
