Christmas 999 calls: A functional NHS was one of the best gifts many people receive - and we should treat it with respect
There was no disguising the frustration of staff as the selfish and unnecessary calls began to flood in this festive season
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Your support makes all the difference.For anyone celebrating in Yorkshire this Christmas, the local ambulance service’s annual “tweetathon” makes for sobering reading. On “Mad Friday” – the day that Christmas shopping and office parties reached their peak – and into Saturday morning, the Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) spent 24 hours tweeting a selection of more than 2,000 calls.
The day started dramatically, with a suspected stroke and a helicopter sent out to Altofts. There were road traffic collisions, a brick through a bus window, and a stabbing in York. By 2:21pm, the service was dealing with more than 250 active incidents.
Inevitably, as the afternoon wore on, calls started tending towards the drunken. Staff posed for photos in Santa hats and reindeer ears as they triaged patients, reassured callers, or gave CPR instructions over the phone. But there was no disguising their frustration as the selfish and unnecessary calls began to flood in.
“We are attending a child with difficulty breathing … male fallen off roof … got quite a few assaults coming in now … a caller told us someone was in cardiac arrest, when we got there they had a fork stuck to their lip … member of the public called 999, didn’t want an ambulance and swore at one of our emergency call-takers. Why call? Not cool … female passed out in the toilets of a pub in Wakefield …
“Male ringing with a cut finger that isn’t bleeding … woman keeps falling over drunk, her husband has called three times now … someone’s got a bunion in Doncaster, called 999 … serious car crash in Sheffield – please, people, drive carefully, buckle up, stay safe– another call for a young female in drink and vomiting in a club.”
By 10:30pm, the service had dealt with 861 life-threatening “red calls”. The 15 minutes until 4:30am saw a “massive increase in 999 call demand in all areas”, as pubs, clubs and parties chucked out. At 6:30am, “we’re still getting assaults and drink-related calls”, and at 9:30am, someone was trying to jump out of a window.
Shortly afterwards, newspapers reported that 70 per cent of weekend cases dealt with by one particular A&E department in the North-east were alcohol-related. Meanwhile, hospital admissions linked to alcohol have climbed by 64 per cent since reforms to the licensing laws were introduced.
This Christmas, a functional NHS was one of the best gifts many people received. We should be grateful, and treat it with respect. That’s why the best New Year message comes from Rod Barnes, the chief executive of YAS: we should behave “responsibly, [look] after friends and neighbours who may be vulnerable at this time of year”; and think twice before calling an ambulance. Happy New Year – especially to those who will be hard at work, looking after us.
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