South Western Ambulance: 'Think twice' before calling 999

Dialling 999 for an ambulance should only happen for life-threatening situations, the ambulance service said

People have been urged to to "think twice" before calling 999 for an ambulance.

South Western Ambulance Service is bracing itself for a big increase in demand for its "extremely stretched services" over the Easter weekend.

Adrian South, deputy director clinical care at South Western Ambulance Service, said Easter was "always particularly busy".

"Think carefully before you dial 999 for an ambulance," he said.

Easter is expected to busy for staff answering emergency calls, the ambulance service said

His call came as monthly figures showed the average ambulance response times in March in the South West were the longest in England at more than 13 minutes.

That is almost double the target of seven minutes for life-threatening conditions such as a cardiac arrest and severe shortness of breath.

"We are bracing ourselves for a busy couple of days," Mr South said.

"The Easter bank holiday is always particularly busy.

"So we are asking people to think twice before calling 999.

"If there are other services such as 111 or urgent care centres that can help you, then access those.

"If you call 999 and we advise you to use another service then do that when you possibly can.

"That helps keep ambulances for patients with life-threatening problems."