Ambulance Service needs better support

I WAS intrigued to learn that 10 addresses in Northern Ireland were responsible for a combined 1,000 emergency calls to the Ambulance Service last year (News, March 8).

I started working for the Ambulance Service in 2012, aged 18. I first worked in the regional pressures co-ordination centre, which was a team based in emergency ambulance control.

I witnessed first-hand the “regulars” calling day in day out, sometimes several times a day. After leaving ambulance control, I worked in the south-eastern divisional headquarters, based in Bangor.

Again, I was able to see the impact on the crews, being repeatedly sent out to the same addresses, tying them up for hours on end.

These types of calls prevent the crews from attending life-threatening emergencies and, in areas like Bangor and the Ards Peninsula, there are already geographical difficulties for patients further away, so it is vital that crews be made available when they’re most needed. The number of calls made to the Ambulance Service increases each year, yet the service has not been able to grow to meet that demand because of funding pressures.

We need a functioning government in order to investigate new ways to help people get access to appropriate care for their needs and reduce the need for unnecessary ambulance call-outs.

HANNAH MCNAMARA Green Party