Essex: Makes Most Ambulance Call Outs This Christmas

A third of the calls made to the East of England Ambulance Service this Christmas came from Essex.

Out of 2,717 calls on Christmas Day, 874 were made in Essex.

Across the region calls were also up, with 40 more calls made compared to last year.

Compared to an average day, the service say they took about 300 more calls than normal.

However, we're being thanked for helping to contribute to a decrease of about 360 calls over the three days of the Christmas period compared to 2012.

The service took 7,813 calls between Christmas Eve and Boxing Day and 1,241 patients were taken to hospital on Christmas Day.

Calls typically ranged from chest pains, illnesses and falls to choking, assaults and births.

Only around 30% of patients attend were in a life-threatened condition, including cardiac arrest, suspected stroke, or serious wounds.

Rob Ashford, Acting Director of Service Delivery, said: "Whilst it's encouraging we've seen a slight decrease in the number of calls compared to the same period last year, we're still seeing an increase each Christmas Day.

"Our staff are working as hard as ever over the period and I'm proud of all those who have been carrying out lifesaving work for the Trust over the past few days.

"From our call handlers, to the crews out on the roads, and everyone else - I'd like to say a huge thank you to them all."

The service are expecting the pressure to continue this week, with New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day typically being the busiest days of the year.


Christmas 2013 stats
Total 999 calls on Christmas Day: 2,717
People taken to hospital by EEAST on Christmas Day: 1,241
Total calls from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day: 7,813


Calls by county on Christmas Day
Essex: 874
Hertfordshire: 467
Cambridgshire: 370
Norfolk: 344
Bedfordshire: 326
Suffolk: 313


Calls by category (note: these are only broken down into calls to the service, some patients may not have needed further ambulance care.)
Road Traffic Collisions: 148
Falls: 1,124
Cardiac arrests: 92
Chest pain: 497
Childbirth/pregnancy: 45
Assaults: 139
Stroke: 201