SECAmb Press Release – Severe Weather Warning

Severe weather conditions affect SECAmb

Press release – 2 February 2009

As severe weather conditions continue to affect the South East region, the public is being urged to support South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Trust (SECAmb) by only calling 999 in the event of an emergency.

Staff at SECAmb are working hard to continue to deliver a safe and as swift a service as possible across Kent, Surrey and Sussex, however, heavy snow and poor driving conditions mean that ambulances are taking longer than usual to respond to some calls.

SECAmb has put a number of measures in place to deal with the challenging situation, including securing additional 4 x 4 vehicles from voluntary agencies such as St John Ambulance, and some frontline crews and emergency dispatch centre staff who were on night shift last night stayed at work this morning to cover for colleagues who were having difficulty getting in to work this morning.

“We are responding to all 999 calls that we receive, but the current situation is obviously placing additional pressure on our staff and resources, particularly across the Surrey area.” said Sue Harris, SECAmb’s Director of Operations.

“We would like to reassure the public that everything possible is being done to ensure that we respond to 999 calls as quickly as we can and provide a good service for our patients. However, current weather conditions mean that we are taking longer than usual to respond to some 999 calls.

“The public can help us during this challenging time by only calling 999 in the event of an emergency – we don’t want to dissuade anyone from calling for our help if they genuinely need it but, if someone’s call is less urgent we would ask people to consider whether they could get support and advice from other NHS providers such as calling NHS Direct or visiting a local NHS walk in centre.”

SECAmb has issued the following advice on when to dial 999 for an ambulance:

If you think a patient is suffering from one of the following you must dial 999 for an ambulance:

* heart attack (e.g. chest pain for more than 15 minutes)
* sudden unexplained shortness of breath
* heavy bleeding
* unconsciousness (even if the patient has regained consciousness)
* traumatic back/spinal/neck pain

You should also call for an ambulance if:

* you think the patient’s illness or injury is life-threatening
* you think the illness or injury may become worse, or even life-threatening on the way to the hospital
* moving the patient/s without skilled people could cause further injury
* the patient needs the skills or equipment of the ambulance service and its personnel
* traffic conditions could cause a delay in getting the person to hospital and time could be critical

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