AN AMBULANCE service pleaded for people to only call 999 in an emergency after declaring a so-called critical incident because of "extreme pressures" on paramedics.

South Central Ambulance Service, which covers the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire and Oxfordshire, has been exhausted by an "overwhelming" demand over the weekend.

On Saturday evening the service tweeted: "Please, please support us by using our services wisely, we're here for life threatening illnesses and injuries."

It said several factors were to blame including GP waiting-list backlogs, ambulance queues at hospitals and people who had not been able to get medical help during the pandemic.

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The weekend was particularly busy for all emergency services as people headed to Halloween parties.

The ambulance service tweeted on Saturday: "South Central Ambulance Service has declared a Critical Incident due to extreme pressures across our services. Our staff and volunteers are working extremely hard to respond to calls but the volume is overwhelming."

Earlier this week, ambulance leaders described the “highest level of emergency activity in history” and reports from around the country paint a bleak picture of ambulances queuing for hours outside busy hospitals.

The declaration of a critical incident comes not long after hospitals in England were ordered to “eliminate” ambulance queues outside their sites after two deaths were linked to handover delays.

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NHS bosses highlighted the “risk to patient safety” in the letter which told trusts to end all handover delays and stop using ambulances as emergency department “cubicles”.

Martin Flaherty, managing director of the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, said: “The ambulance sector is experiencing some of the highest levels of emergency activity in its history and this is regrettably leading to delays in the sector’s ability to respond to some patients.”

The ambulance service expect to be busy over the winter period.

South Central Ambulance Service said: "SCAS is currently under significant pressure at its highest alert level, REAP 4, along with all other ambulance trusts in England which, on Saturday, led to the declaration of a critical incident due to the level of disruption to the delivery of SCAS services. The Trust remains very busy and has been for some time now and it is clear the busy winter period is going to be more challenging than ever this year.

"999 demand is just under 13 per cent above 2019 levels, equating to 6500 more incidents. NHS 111 and patient transport services both continue to see significantly higher demand than usual and Covid demand increased last week for the fourth consecutive week."

According to the NHS, a critical incident is any localised incident where the level of disruption results in an organisation temporarily or permanently losing its ability to deliver critical services, patients may have been harmed or the environment is not safe, requiring special measures and support from other agencies to restore normal operating functions.

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