Soaring temperatures turn the heat up on
South Central Ambulance Service

The continuing heat wave has seen the number of 999 calls to South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) increase still further this afternoon on account of increasing demand on the service.

Between 00.01 on 19 July and 23.59 on 21 July SCAS responded to 4412 emergency calls of which 1192 were potentially life-threatening. These figures represent a significant increase in the amount of incidents that SCAS has responded to across the four counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire and Oxfordshire - 355 more emergency calls including 54 more immediately life-threatening calls when compared to an average weekend in June 2013!

This is an increase on both the previous weekend and the one before that. From 00.01 on 12 July and 23.59 on 14 July we responded to 4346 emergency calls of which 1154 were potentially life-threatening. Between 00.01 on 5 July and 23.59 on 7 July we responded to 4316 emergency calls of which 1138 were potentially life-threatening.

Please remember that misuse of the ambulance service costs lives. Only call 999 in the event of a medical emergency. 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 – patients suffering life-threatening injury or illness.

What’s more arriving by ambulance at a hospital’s Emergency Department (A&E) doesn’t guarantee that you’ll be seen ahead of other patients who don’t. All patients are prioritised according to the severity of their condition. Those suffering from life threatening injury or illness are seen and treated first!

Sadly SCAS still receives a significant number of hoax calls – 592 between 1 January and 30 June 2013. This figure includes one received last Saturday from a child in Hampshire claiming that a41 year male was in cardiac arrest. In response we sent a Rapid Response Vehicle, a double crewed and a community responder. Supporting their colleagues in the ambulance service, several police units from Hampshire Constabulary arrived at the address but found no trace of such a man. Police now believe the hoax call was made by a 12-yearold child and the matter is being investigated further.

Another hoax call was received on 22 July claiming a 15 year old female had suffered a cardiac arrest in Reading. 2 ambulances, an officer and Thames Valley Air Ambulance were dispatched to the scene. The caller remained on the phone until SCAS advised the caller that they had arrived at the scene. The caller hung up and turned their phone off. No one at the address knew anything about the reported incident! SCAS has now reported the caller to the police.

For more information about the consequences of abusing the 999 number please go to www.999southcentral.co.uk/

In addition to the 592 hoax calls SCAS received in the first 6 months of this year, the Trust receives
many more inappropriate calls that do not require an ambulance response.
Examples of inappropriate 999 calls received by SCAS over the last few days include:
• A man who superglued his finger to his ear
• A female who’d cut her foot - when SCAS arrived on scene she was sat in a car waiting for us. The crew dressed her cut and told her to visit the walk in centre if it worsened.
• A male who’d burnt his throat on a microwave meal
• A male who had eaten an out of date ready meal and wanted to know if he’d be ok

PLEASE think before you dial 999. If it’s not a medical emergency please call 111 for help and advice on accessing the most appropriate treatment.

Many minor injuries or illnesses are best treated by Self Care – your pharmacist will be happy to offer advice on how you can treat them yourself. They’ll also be happy to advise you on purchasing a First Aid Kit for use at home in the event of minor injury or illness. Please remember 999 is a life line for those who really need it and not a default service for those who don’t!