EMAS experiences highest ever 999 demand

The festive season got off to a busy start for EMAS and its frontline crews on Friday 21 December
when it dealt with 2,384 emergency calls - that’s 457 more than would normally be received on a
typical Friday. And record call volumes continued into the early hours of the following morning.

As in previous years, people drinking to excess were the main reason for the increase with crews
dealing with callers who had injured themselves or were so ill, they needed hospital treatment.

A spokesperson for EMAS said: “We geared up for a very busy night because the last Friday before
Christmas is traditionally a time of high demand as people finish work and start to party. Sadly, many
of the patients we dealt with had their night out spoilt and some will even be spending Christmas in
hospital rather than with their family and friends. We expect the increase in demand to continue over
Christmas and into the New Year and whilst we don’t want to be killjoys, we’d urge people to drink
sensibly to avoid the same problems happening to them.”

The service is also asking the public to only call 999 in cases of genuine life-threatening emergencies.