Ambulance Service ‘Tweetathon’ in Yorkshire

25 August 2017

After the success of previous 24-hour ‘tweetathons’, Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust (YAS) gave people another chance to go behind the scenes of its emergency operations by holding another from 9am on Thursday 24 August until 9am on Friday 25 August 2017.

Timed just before the busy bank holiday weekend, the ‘tweetathon’ followed emergency call handlers as they answered 999 calls and gave advice and reassurance to over 2,000 people who called for help. During the 24-hour period the Trust took 2,522 emergency calls and dispatched 1,894 ambulances.  Of these, ten were categorised as hoax calls.

Pauline Archibald, Head of Service Central Delivery at Yorkshire Ambulance Service, said: “Opening up our Emergency Operations Centre through Twitter is a great way of giving everyone an insight into what happens when you call 999. Our staff deal with a huge variety of calls from assisting the delivery of a baby over the phone to sending support to road traffic collisions.”

The ‘tweetathon’ also gave the Trust the opportunity to use social media to highlight how the service should be used appropriately and inform the public that not everyone who dials 999 will be sent an ambulance. Callers with less serious illnesses or injuries may be referred to NHS 111, be given clinical advice over the phone or be signposted to a more appropriate service.

Pauline Archibald added: “We will always respond to people with serious or life-threatening illnesses or injuries that need time-critical medical assistance. However, not all the 999 calls we receive are an emergency. We hope people will see how busy we are and consider using other healthcare providers in the community for less serious illnesses or injuries.”

Produced by: Corporate Communications Department