Calls for public bodies in Sussex to work together to beat extreme heat
It's after people in Worthing dialled 999 over heat related incidents almost two hundred times in one day this summer
There's calls for public bodies in Sussex to work together to deal with extreme heat.
It's after people in Worthing dialled 999 over heat related incidents almost 200 times in one day this summer - with the town's hospital having to shut off wards due to heat.
The South East Coast Ambulance service also revealed calls to it's service went up 30% during it's busiest days of the heatwave.
SECAMB'S Head of Operations for Worthing Nicky Relf said:
“I’ve been in the ambulance service for 25 years and it’s not something I’ve ever seen or had to work through before.”
The trust declared a critical incident between June 25 and 29 following a period of ‘significant demand’.
There was a 16 per cent increase between June 22 and July 12, when compared with the same period in 2025.
Worthing West MP Martin McCabe said it's a "wake-up call":
"Extreme heat isn’t just an environmental issue, it’s a public health issue, an NHS issue and an emergency resilience issue.”