Increase in emergency services call-outs at New Year
THE start of the New Year proved busy for the emergency services.
West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) received 836 calls across Staffordshire on New Year’s Day, compared to 865 in 2018.
WMAS head of emergency operations centres, Jeremy Brown, said: “It is testament to my staff that calls were answered incredibly quickly despite this traditionally being our busy night of the year.
“Our staff, both in control and out on the road, have to give up a lot of time with their families at this time of year and I thank them for all of their efforts and dedication.”
WMAS chief executive Anthony Marsh said: “I am incredibly proud of the way that our control room staff were able to answer calls incredibly quickly on such a busy night, just as they do throughout the rest of the year.
“That – together with the hard work of ambulance staff who were out responding to the calls – helped to ensure patients received care as quickly as possible. I would like to thank everyone involved for putting the public before themselves.”
The New Year also got off to a busy start for Staffordshire Police with an increase in emergency 999 calls to the contact centre.
Between midnight on January 1 and midnight on January 2, the service received a total of 1,368 calls. Emergency calls were up by 38 per cent compared with an average day where the tally is usually around 436.
The types of incidents that operators were called about included domestic related, anti-social behaviour, concern for safety, violence against the person and suspicious activity.
Lisa Cope, head of contact services for Staffordshire Police, said: “Our planning for the Christmas and New Year period started at the beginning of 2018 to ensure we had sufficient staffing in place to deal with the anticipated demand.
“On the first day of 2019 we received 700, 999 calls in the contact centre and answered these calls in an average of 14 seconds. In relation to 101 nonemergency demand we received 668 calls which is a 27 per cent decrease in calls compared to an average day.”
On December 31 at 12.02pm firefighters were called to Weaver Close in Cheadle to a suspected gas leak after two casualties, one male and one female presented with sickness and light headedness.
A spokeswoman for Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “A crew from Cheadle attended and carried out an assessment but no gas was found and the incident was left with the ambulance service.”
On January 2 all three 999 services were called to a road traffic collision at Freehay Road, Mobberley. One man in his 80s had to be cut free from his car by firefighters.