IF you’ve stubbed your big toe or have a spot on your armpit, don’t call us.

That’s the message from the North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust as it urges people to call 999 only with real emergencies in the busy run-up to Christmas.

The Trust has released a selection of calls received in October that it deemed too minor to send an ambulance out to.

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A person whose ring was digging into their finger, someone who had stood on a plug and another who had been scratched by a cat were also on the list Director of operations, Derek Cartwright, said: “People have called us because they are frightened, upset or often just don’t know who else to ring to ask for help.

“But if the situation isn’t a urgent one, we cannot guarantee that they will be seen quickly or even if they will be seen at all by an NWAS clinician.”

The Trust says that it always prepares well in advance for the busy and challenging winter season.

But the traditional quieter periods in summer have not materialised this year, as calls have continued to rise month on month.

Recent figures show the NWAS is dealing with a 25 per cent increase in ‘Red’ calls – those who have a life-threatening or potentially life-threatening condition with a national eight minute response target.

The Trust says it has made changes to the way it works in an attempt to free up more resources to attend life-threatening emergencies.

Mr Cartwright added: “Our priority will always be those in dire, urgent need, due to having only a finite number of resources. It has to be, but we need the public to help us to help them.

“If an ambulance crew attends to someone with a painful ankle injury, it can’t go to someone who in the meantime has stopped breathing.

“If someone calls 999 to request help for an ear infection, a call to a cardiac arrest, where every second counts, takes longer to be answered.”

 

Bizarre reasons for 999 calls

• Wedding ring digging into finger
• Painful knee
• Knocked finger on wall
• Sore eye
• Bitten by feral cat
• Broken hand
• Constipated
• Stubbed big toe
• Stood on a plug
• Twisted ankle five days previously
• Stood on a safety pin
• Swollen wrist
• Hurt shoulder two weeks previously
• Bitten by dog the day before
• Scratched by cat
• Fell five days previously and have pain in legs
• Fell six hours previously and twisted ankle
• Spot in armpit
• Torn toe nail