The National Ambulance Service work hard all year round and will be especially busy tonight on Halloween.
They respond to hundreds of calls around the country and have asked the public not to make ‘non-life threatening’ calls to any emergency services because it “can put unnecessary additional demand on emergency services resources”.
According to The Irish Times, SIPTU’s health organiser Paul Bell said that people should be prosecuted for making such calls. He said, “I have had crews in peak time responding to what turns out to be a cut from shaving.
“I believe people who make such calls should be prosecuted.”
The NAS revealed some of the crazy calls they have had to deal with including a woman who “couldn’t take her wellies off”.
Some of the most ridiculous emergency calls they have dealt with include:
- A man who had been prescribed antibiotics for a cold and called 999 a few hours after taking them because they weren’t working.
- In 2014, an ambulance was called for a 14-year-old who was said to be in labour and when they arrived found the family dog was giving birth and not a teenage girl.
- A man with sunburn rang an ambulance although he was fully conscious and breathing but wanted one.
- A woman said she had bleeding that wouldn’t stop and when the ambulance arrived they found out she was scratched after her cat and dog got into a fight and she broke it up.
- A man whose new Christmas shoes were too tight and hurt his feet.
- A call was made for a broken fingernail.
- A man got his hand stuck in a mouse trap.
- A person couldn’t sleep and rang emergency services because they thought their house was haunted.
Mr.Bell said that these types of calls can put a delay on getting to genuine emergencies, he said, “More importantly, non life threatening calls can be time consuming and may delay a genuine caller receiving timely medical assistance.”
So you should really think before you call 999.
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