THE unprecedented demand on ambulance crews during icy conditions last week have been revealed.
A staggering 465 emergency calls were made to the Yorkshire Ambulance Service between 6am and 9am on Friday against a predicted 190 emergencies and there were 221 falls called in when only 25 were predicted.
The worst-hit areas were West and South Yorkshire, where black ice caused havoc for commuters.
The huge number of calls meant crews from East Yorkshire had to be redeployed, leaving many patients waiting much longer for an ambulance than they should.
Dr Alison Walker, executive medical director at the service, said: "We received hundreds of 999 calls for weather-related incidents and have been treating a lot of patients involved in road traffic collisions and injured in slips, trips and falls.
"These calls were in addition to other medical emergencies such as heart attacks and strokes.
"Due to this unprecedented demand, we took a decision to activate our Major Incident Plan.
"This allowed us to put special arrangements in place to cope with the surges in demand, such as using parts of our non-emergency Patient Transport Service to assist the accident and emergency service.
A paramedic, who asked not to be named, told the Mail more than 500 patients were kept waiting for an ambulance for part of the day on Friday.
The health worker said the situation had been exacerbated by problems with the rota system and crews being sent from East Yorkshire to respond to calls in West Yorkshire, where the worst of the weather happened.
Support had to be drafted in from ambulance services around the country because so many calls flooded in, with additional help coming in from neighbouring ambulance services, including North West Ambulance Service, West Midlands Ambulance Service and North East Ambulance Service.
At lunchtime on Friday, the paramedic source claimed more than 100 calls had not been dealt with in Hull and the East Riding alone.
The state of emergency also had a knock-on effect to patients wishing to be taken home from Castle Hill and Hull Royal hospitals. With crews having to act on emergency calls, patient transport services had to be suspended.
A spokesman for Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the hospitals, previously told the Mail the situation had an impact on patients going home on Friday.
He said: "Although Yorkshire Ambulance Service will still be helping to take patients home, we asked friends and families of discharged patients to arrange to collect them if possible. Once ambulance services return to normal, we anticipate an influx of patients."
For advice and treatment for non- emergencies, the ambulance service is asking people consider options such as a visit to a local pharmacist, calling NHS Direct on 0845 4647 or visiting a minor injuries unit or walk-in centre.
