Emergency services are ‘not a game’

The new year issue of the journal is going to press as an exhausting month for paramedics comes to an end. In addition to the usual array of unexpected emergencies, paramedic services across the country are recovering from rescuing many hung-over members of the public during the festive season.

London Ambulance Service received close to 2400 calls about heavy-drinking episodes in one Friday night before Christmas 2016. Staff took to social media asking the public to drink responsibly, and started a hashtag campaign: ‘not a game’. London Ambulance Services live Twitter feed repeatedly urged the the public to only call them in a ‘genuine emergency’. Incidents like a drunk man verbally abusing ambulance staff are not only disrespectful for the paramedics, but are also a waste of valuable medical resources. They may deter paramedics from attending to elderly or ill patients who are, without a doubt, in a more genuine need of the emergency services.