Ambulance service gets 2,283 calls over new year
- Published
Crews answered 596 category A (serious and immediately life threatening) calls
The ambulance service in North West England received 2,283 calls on New Year's Eve - the equivalent of a call every nine seconds.
In its busiest hour - from 0200 GMT to 0300 GMT - the North West Ambulance Service (Nwas) handled 513 calls.
Among the incidents were 33 stabbings, three house fires, and the birth of a baby in Greater Manchester.
Crews responded to 596 category A (serious and life threatening) 999 calls - a 10% rise on last year.
There were 12 reports of staff being assaulted - six in Greater Manchester, five in Cheshire and Merseyside, and one in Cumbria and Lancashire.
Derek Cartwright, director of paramedic emergency service at Nwas, said: "All our staff worked hard both in control rooms managing emergency calls and deploying vehicles, and on front line vehicles tending to patients.
"It is their dedication and commitment that enables us to continue to deliver excellent service to the people of the North West - a fact that I am sure the general public will recognise.
"Despite this sterling effort, 12 crews were shockingly assaulted whilst carrying out their work, an intolerable situation, particularly when you consider they are trying to provide patient care and save lives, often in very difficult circumstances."