Ambulance Crews Under Strain In Heat

17 July 2013, 07:54 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

South Coast Ambulance crews say people are dialling 999 uneccessarily during this hot weather.

South Central Ambulance Service says they have seen a significant increase in the amount of people calling during the current heatwave.

They say calling 999 for an ambulance when you don’t need one may result in vital resources being unavailable to respond to patients who genuinely need them and may be suffering from life-threatening injuries or illnessess.

Examples of inappropriate 999 calls received by South Central Ambulance Service in July 2013 include:

• A male bitten by a wild rat
• A male who had a pain in his heel as he had an ulcer
• A person who rang 999 to complain about the people upstairs and the noise they
were making
• A lady who called for assistance in getting her downstairs as her stair lift had
broken down.
• A male who had cut his hand on a glass whilst washing up
• An elderly male who dialled 999 four times unnecessarily.