People in Lichfield and Burntwood are being urged to give the ambulance service a Christmas present by only using 999 when necessary.
A new poster campaign is highlighting the role of West Midlands Ambulance Service – and reminding people that the 999 service is for life-threatening conditions and emergencies.
A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said:
“The role of West Midlands Ambulance Service is to attend life-threatening cases. Every day, the service receives more than 2,000 999 calls, only ten percent of which are genuine emergencies. Clearly in these situations, it is entirely appropriate for people to dial 999 to access emergency care.
“The remaining ninety percent of calls consist of more minor cases (eg. minor cuts and wounds, strains and sprains or coughs, colds, flu and generally feeling unwell) that can be dealt with by other areas of the NHS, such as GP surgeries, pharmacists and walk-in centres.
“We also get calls from those who turn to us, knowing it’s not life-threatening, but we will still get to them quickly. A recent case involved an ambulance crew being called to a man who wanted a dressing on a wound changing. When asked why he had called for an ambulance, he said he knew we would be with him within minutes of the call. The crew spent half an hour changing a dressing, time which could have been spent responding to a genuine life-threatening call.”
And the ambulance service is reminding people to think before they call.
The spokesperson added:
“If our crews and vehicles are called inappropriately, it could result in delays in getting to patients with genuine life-threatening illness or injury.”
