It SIMPLY beggars belief doesn’t it? Especially since there can be few people living in this country who don’t already know how stretched our emergency services are.

Yet despite this fact, there are still individuals who, with no thought for the life and health of their neighbours, call up our ambulance service and demand emergency assistance for such life-threatening conditions as a broken fingernail or ‘popped’ spot.

Indeed, incredible as it may sound, these are actually some of the more ‘serious’ examples of inappropriate callouts to a service that is already way over stretched.

Surely it is time these time wasters were billed or fined for what can only be called their ‘wilful’ ignorance?

It is no longer enough that the ambulance service should have to re-educate us as to what the word ‘emergency’ means – it does that every year.

No, what is needed now is swift and tough legal action taken against those whose wanton misuse of life-saving resources threatens all of us who genuinely seek the help of the emergency services. And heavy and immediate fines levelled against such artless perpetrators seems as good a place to start as any.

After all, lives are on the line, every hour of every day, and as any ambulance man or woman will tell you, every second can make the difference between life and death.