HOAX calls to Hampshire’s ambulance service are putting scores of lives at risk, according to paramedics.
South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS), which covers Basingstoke and Hart, as well as Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire, said it received thousands of false 999 calls during 2011.
Paramedics turned out for broken fingernails, blown lightbulbs and sick pooches, prompting ambulance bosses to launch a campaign today (Thursday) to highlight the risk of abusing the service.
SCAS has revealed that from January to October 2011, the service received over 390,000 calls, of which 1,235 were hoaxes. And 41 per cent of all call-outs did not require a trip to hospital.
SCAS boss Will Hancock said that with a surge in demand over the past 10 years, people should only dial 999 in the event of a life-threatening emergency.
“We need people to use the service appropriately,” he said.
“Overall, the public is very supportive of the ambulance service.
“However, there are a number of people who do abuse it.
“Please think before you dial 999. The ambulance service is for emergencies and life-threatening situations only.”
SCAS’s network of 2,400 staff across the four counties look after more than four million residents, with an average of one ambulance per 33,000 people.
Hampshire area manager Paul Jefferies, who has worked as a paramedic for 18 years, said he has seen a fair share of people abusing the service.
“Inappropriate calls I have regularly experienced include responding to the emergency of a man in severe pain and then on arrival he wanted me to pass him some paracetamol from a table less than two metres away,” he said.
“This misuse takes vital resources away from people in life-threatening situations.
“If you or someone from your family is in cardiac arrest you want to know that emergency care is going to be with you as quickly as possible.
“However, we have been called from miles away just to pass someone paracetamol from a table.”
The service is urging patients with non-life threatening problems to consult their GP, call NHS Direct (0845 4647) or visit hospital walk-in centres.
