Record number of ambulance calls in a day for service

The service responded to 33 calls on Saturday, which is more than double the daily average for the year.

The previous daily record was 31 contacts in April this year.

It is the first time in the history of the service that demand has exceeded 600 calls in a single month.

‘Overall demand for the ambulance service continues to grow,’ said chief ambulance officer Mark Mapp.

‘We are experiencing another busy year and the past few days have seen some significant peaks, making August our busiest month of the year so far.

‘This seems to be a general trend, as there is no single reason for the increased demand.’

During periods of high demand, off-duty personnel are called back into work to provide resilience and to ensure ambulance cover for the island is maintained.

Mr Mapp added: ‘We continue to respond to a large number of falls and a range of medical emergencies, as well as mental health cases and traumatic injuries, including road traffic collisions.

‘Due to the dynamic nature of our work, it is difficult to predict when the peaks will occur and it is not unusual for several calls to come in at the same time.

‘I would like to thank the team at the Emergency Ambulance Service for their continued hard work and professionalism.

‘I would also like to acknowledge the dedication of those members of staff who have been called back into work during busy periods to enable us to maintain cover.’