Hoax ambulance calls

10 February 2010, 04:54 | Updated: 10 February 2010, 11:30

South Central Ambulance have revealed they were called out 20 times in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire in January to patients who weren't there when they turned up.

South Central Ambulance are asking us to think carefully before dialling 9-9-9, especially for someone else, because attending these sorts of calls can delay them getting to real emergencies.

The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire division of South Central Ambulance also had to deal with 23 hoax calls during January 2010.

Alan Weir, Paramedic and SCAS Operational Manager, said: "We would ask that people just take a moment to think before calling 999, especially for someone else. We want people to get the right treatment, from the right person, first time.

"Our highly trained crews are specially equipped to deal with life threatening emergencies and illnesses and we aim to get to these as fast as we possibly can.  However, our response to these seriously ill patients can be delayed if we are dealing with
minor illnesses and injuries that may be better dealt with by a GP or by another health care service."

Listen to a hoax 999 call taken by the ambulance service