Ambulance crews shine during New Year period

The region's ambulance service thanked its staff and volunteers for their work in caring for more than 2,000 patients during a busy New Year's Eve into 2014. The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) saw 2,164emergency calls during New Year celebrations most of which involved falls as well as assaults and sick patients. Of these, around 700 people were taken to hospital.

This is a slight decrease on last year, when EEAST received around 2,500 calls during the same period (7pm-7am). Services worked in partnership as many town and city centres had minor injury units setup to treat patients as 999 calls peaked at just after midnight. Control rooms at EEAST reported that call demand began to rise early, which stretched the busy period for ambulance crews. The care centre in Cambridge ran until 4am on New Year's Day treating 15 casualties with just one requiring hospital treatment.      

Acting Director of Service Delivery Rob Ashford said: "My thanks and praise go out to all our staff and volunteers who worked during this difficult shift. You have all been working as hard as ever over the festive period and I’m proud of all those who have been carrying out lifesaving work for the Trust over the past few days. “While a downward trend, however slight, is good news and a sign that perhaps people are taking note of our advice, it's still a very busy start to the year.”

To demonstrate the range of calls received and encourage people to take sensible precautions EEAST tweeted from a Cambridgeambulance crew during a 7.30pm- 7.30am shift. The tweets can still be viewed on @EastEnglandAmb. Further advice on winter health issues are available on the EEAST website, www.eastamb.nhs.uk and the Trust will also be sharing using advice on its Twitter account (www.twitter.com/eastenglandamb) and on Facebook (www.facebook.com).