Paramedics in East Midlands declare incident amid hot weather
East Midlands Ambulance Service has declared a business continuity incident following the hot weather.
The East Midlands Ambulance Service has declared a business continuity incident following sustained pressure across the region.
Bosses there said the hot weather, alongside wider pressures, are increasing demand for emergency care.
A statement on the East Midlands Ambulance Service said: "Declaring a business continuity incident allows EMAS to take additional steps, working closely with NHS partners, to help ensure ambulance crews are available to respond to patients in the community.
"This includes, supporting the timely handover of patients at hospital emergency departments, so ambulance crews can return to responding to 999 calls; working with healthcare providers to ensure patients are directed to the most appropriate care; continuing to prioritise the most life-threatening and serious incidents."
An amber heat health alert has been issued for the East Midlands and is in place until 5pm tomorrow (28 May). It means there are likely to be significant impacts across health and social services due to the high temperatures.
The service continued: "We recognise this is challenging for our NHS partners, who are also working under significant pressure, and we are grateful for their continued support.
"Alongside this, EMAS is maximising available resources and reviewing how ambulance crews are deployed across the region.
"We will continue to monitor the situation closely, with a focus on maintaining safe patient care and returning to normal service levels as soon as possible."
To help, members of the public are being asked to only call 999 in emergencies - when someone is seriously ill or injured and their life is at risk.