Release Date :  Tuesday 15 December 2009

The Scottish Ambulance Service will increase resources by up to 20 percent at peak periods over the festive period to cope with the surge in 999 calls as the Christmas party season reaches full flow and revellers celebrate Hogmanay.

During the festive period last year (2 December – 2 January) the Scottish Ambulance Service coped with a 19.5 percent increase on the normal average for emergency 999 responses across Scotland - an additional 7,081 incidents, most of which were alcohol related.

Pauline Howie, Chief Executive, Scottish Ambulance Service said:
“This is a time when most people enjoy parties, as well as spending time with their friends and families, but it’s the toughest time of the year for our ambulance crews and control room staff. Not only are they working harder than ever before but because most of the calls involve alcohol, they will unfortunately face a higher level of abuse from some patients.

“We have put in place contingency plans to deal with the expected surge in 999 calls and would ask people to drink sensibly when they are out celebrating over the festive period. By doing so, they will help us make sure that we are sending ambulance crews to those who really need our help, rather than people who have simply had too much to drink. Every time we send an ambulance to a call that didn’t need one, we have one fewer to respond to a life threatening emergency.”

The Service is working in partnership with local authorities and the police in a number of city centres, such as Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling and Falkirk, to deal with the increase in drink related incidents. Many city centres will operate first aid and treatment centres, to help free up ambulance crews and reduce the number of people unnecessarily attending A&E departments.

The average response time to a life threatening call in Scotland is 7.2 minutes. Last year the Service responded to 43,405 emergency calls during the festive period between 2 December and 2 January.