Busy Start to 2011 for West Midlands Ambulance Service

The number of ‘999’ calls steadily increased toward midnight, but, as with previous years, it was the start of the New Year that the numbers began to increase more rapidly with the peak rate of calls coming in between 2am and 4am; a large proportion of them being for alcohol-related incidents including fights, assaults, people collapsing, falling over and injuring themselves.

In the last four hours of 2010, the Service received 643 calls, 43 of which were made in Shropshire.

In the first five hours of 2011, the service received 1,407 calls, 106 were made in Shropshire.

The New Year is traditionally the busiest night of the year for the Ambulance Service. It is a year in the planning for which as many staff as possible work through the night and for which this year, more vehicles and staff were on the road than ever before during certain targeted hours when demand was expected to be at its highest.

To help free-up availability of ambulances and to help ease pressures on A&E departments, Temporary Minor Injury Units (TMIU) operated in Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Shrewsbury and Walsall. The TMIUs provided immediate treatment for patients who had suffered alcohol intoxication and other minor illnesses and injuries who are not likely to be admitted after assessment in Accident and Emergency departments.

In Shrewsbury, the TMIU unit was Hosted by St. John Ambulance at its base in Priory Road, Shrewsbury, the unit was staffed by a Senior Paramedic Officer from West Midlands Ambulance Service, a surgeon, a doctor, nurses, nurse practitioners, volunteers from St. John Ambulance and Community First Responders.

Staff there reported a quiet night in Shrewsbury town centre, with one man attending the unit with a head injury.

West Midlands Ambulance Service’s Chief Executive Anthony Marsh said: “This is the night in which the staff of West Midlands Ambulance Service pull out all the stops. The way in which the Service deals with this traditionally busy night is a tribute to all the officers and staff who work through the night, often without the chance of a break. The public should be proud of the staff and volunteers who gave up their night to ensure the safety of everyone in the West Midlands, regardless of whether or not they spent the night celebrating the coming of the New Year.”