999? Help me, I’ve just eaten a mouldy tomato

DISCOVERING that you’d just eaten a mouldy tomato might be a little unsettling.

But one alarmist decided that the best thing to do was dial 999.

That was just one ridiculous call made to the emergency services last year – the list includes someone who had got their plaster cast wet and a person with a paper cut. Transcripts of unnecessary 999 calls have now been released as

NHS bosses ask the public to educate themselves on its services.

In one example, a caller says: ‘My neighbour came here and she gave me a sandwich, cheese and tomato. Anyway, I feel quite sick now. I looked at the tomatoes and there’s mildew on them.’

Another caller told an operator: ‘I cut my arm... I sliced it on a piece of paper.’ The operator asks when the cut happened, and is told: ‘About half an hour ago.’ The operator asks: ‘Is there any serious bleeding?’ The caller replies: ‘No.’

A third caller says: ‘I’ve got my hand in a cast. It’s been in there for three weeks and I’ve got it wet.’

The operator simply responds: ‘OK’, and the caller continues: ‘It’s not an actual emergency, I just

need to get to hospital.’ Another told an operator: ‘Normally I would go to A&E myself but I don’t actually have any money.’

The Welsh Ambulance Service, which released the transcripts,

said that of the 470,653 incidents it recorded in the last year, nearly a quarter were non-essential – at a time of unprecedented demand. Chief executive Jason Killens said:

‘Our ambulance service exists to help people who are seriously ill or

injured, or where there is an immediate threat to their life.’

The service’s Lee Brooks added: ‘It’s easy to make fun of the people who call 999 foolishly, but actually, these people do have a legitimate clinical need – they just don’t know where to turn for it.

‘We’re asking the public to educate themselves on the NHS services available in their area... think about your local pharmacist, dentist and optician, as well as your minor injuries unit and GP.’

He said the public can also dial 111 to speak to a nurse.