Thursday 18 December
The office party season is expected to
bring London Ambulance Service one of its busiest nights of the
year this Friday.
The equivalent night last year saw the Service
take 1,617 calls between the hours of 8pm and 3am.
But recent weeks have already surpassed that
level and this Friday night is expected to be even busier, coming
after the Service experienced its busiest ever week.
From Monday 8 December – Sunday 14 December,
we took a total of 31,833 calls across the seven days and attended
20,939 emergency incidents.
Assistant Director of Operations Jason Killens
said: “Last week was the busiest in our history and we also know
that there will be a lot of office parties taking place this week
which will no doubt lead to a further increase in demand –
especially with calls relating to alcohol.
“We need to prioritise patients who really
need our help – those who have a potentially life-threatening
condition, as well as the elderly and patients with chronic
conditions.
“Anyone with a more minor illness or injury –
or who wakes up on Saturday feeling a little worse for wear –
should think about using other healthcare options, such as their
local pharmacist or NHS walk-in centre, or call NHS Direct. Or if
people need to go to hospital for non-emergency treatment, they
should consider using a taxi or get a lift with a friend or family
member – going in an ambulance does not mean you will get seen any
quicker.”
A range of initiatives are in place to deal
with the festive demand, including:
- The alternative response vehicle – known as
the ‘Booze Bus’ – operating in central London. This vehicle, which
was also successfully run over the last couple of years, is crewed
by three members of staff and can attend people who are drunk and
take a group of patients to hospital in one trip, rather than
sending multiple ambulances.
- A team of ambulance staff based at Liverpool
Street station working with around twenty St John Ambulance
volunteers across the weekend to treat patients with minor
illnesses and injuries, with vehicles from both organisations
assigned to deal with alcohol-related emergency calls in the
City.
- An alternative response vehicle, working in
Camden Town, as part of a joint initiative with Camden Council and
Camden Primary Care Trust to reduce alcohol-related harm and the
pressure on local accident and emergency departments.
- Ends -
Notes to editors:
- For more information, please contact the
London Ambulance Service Communications Department on 020 7921
5113.
- Pictures are available of the central London
Booze Bus