NSW Ambulance and NSW Police have joined forces to launch a new campaign appealing for people to Save Triple Zero (000) for Saving Lives.
NSW Ambulance said both Agencies received thousands of calls each week at a time when emergency services had never been busier.
“The campaign is aimed at educating the public on other services they can use – such as their GP, pharmacist or Healthdirect – instead of tying up critical resources,” NSW Ambulance said.
“In the 12 months to the end of March this year, our paramedics responded to more than 200,000 jobs where there was no patient taken to hospital due to a range of reasons such as the original call being a hoax to the patient refusing to be transported to hospital,” it said.
“There were a concerning number of calls for trivial matters that clearly didn’t require the services of a paramedic or transport to hospital.”
NSW Ambulance said there were 1,036 calls from people complaining about constipation; 662 for toothaches; 215 for ear-aches; 167 for boils; 157 from people who couldn’t sleep; and 16 for hiccups.
It said the campaign, running across TV, newspapers and radio, used real-life calls to triple zero which highlighted the types of jobs that should have been directed elsewhere.
“The calls that were played on television and radio included a patient complaining of sunburnt shoulders after forgetting to apply sunscreen, another for a toothache but no other pressing conditions and a third from a man with an itchy back,” NSW Ambulance said.
Director of Control Centres at the Ambulance service, Assistant Commissioner Steven Norris, said both Agencies wanted people to think before calling triple zero for trivial matters.
“If you are having a medical emergency we will always respond to you but too often our paramedics are responding to calls that we simply don’t need to attend,” Mr Norris said.
“If it isn’t a medical emergency, please consider other health services such as your GP, a pharmacist or a registered nurse at Healthdirect which is available 24 hours a day,” he said.
