THE county’s St John Ambulance Service is going “hands on” to help ease the pressure on A&E over Christmas – New Year.

Earlier this week West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) warned 999 time wasters to watch the clock having taken emergency calls for a finger  wart, a headache after a night out, and a stubbed toe over the past year.

Now, St John is  offering first aid support and advice through a local application of the service’s #SaveSanta campaign.

As well as taken the pressure off the 999 network, #SaveSanta is also about teaching first aid tips to stop calls coming in.

St John volunteers will be at events all over the country – including the Carol Services at Hereford Cathedral on December 22-23 – over the festive season with first aid advice on hand.

Wye Valley NHS Trust is gearing up for unrelenting – if not unprecedented – demand  over Christmas-New Year to the extent that “life-threatening emergency” may well define 999 response.

In that definition, the trust is backed by West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) which warned this week that, with crews under pressure, even minutes spent on calls to minor ailments put lives at risk.

To crews on the road 999 means serious and critical illnesses or  patients that need advanced medical treatment while headed to hospital such as choking, chest pain, stroke, serious blood loss or unconsciousness.

In the last year alone, WMAS received more than 28,500 calls in Herefordshire, a figure representing more than 15 per cent of the county’s population. 

A high percentage of those cases were non-urgent for minor ailments and injuries.

At the furthest extreme of those non-urgent 999 calls were “wart on a finger, “headache after a night out” and “stubbed toe”.