East: Paramedics Get 7,500 Calls Over Bank Holiday

27 August 2013, 15:24 | Updated: 27 August 2013, 15:31

There was an increase in calls to 999 calls over the Bank Holiday weekend.

The East of England Ambulance Service has told Heart "It was a busy Bank Holiday weekend, with more than 7,500 emergency 999 calls being made.

In total they received 7851 calls from Saturday August 24 – Monday August 26; an increase of more than 4% compared to last year’s August Bank Holiday weekend. Of these calls, 3794 people were taken to hospital.

Calls ranged from overdoses, to serious road traffic collisions, to cardiac arrests.

Marcus Bailey, Interim Consultant Paramedic for EEAST, said: “We received a variety of calls over the Bank Holiday including 14 calls for burn related incidents, 57 for cardiac arrests, and 182 calls for suspected strokes.

“The damp weather ensured we didn’t receive any calls relating to heat exposure, but we did attend 155 road traffic collision; 27 up on last year, and including a double fatality on the A47. The biggest reason for people calling us was for falls: with almost 2,000 calls being made.”