Go behind the scenes at Yorkshire ambulance control

People will soon get the chance to go behind the scenes in an ambulance emergency operations centre – on Twitter.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust (YAS) is inviting people to follow emergency call handlers as they answer 999 calls and give advice and reassurance to thousands of people.

The ‘tweetathon’ follows the success of a similar event held by YAS in August.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Dr David Macklin, executive director of operations at YAS, 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, as we showed in our last tweetathon where in the space of 24 hours we tweeted about everything from assisting the delivery of a baby over the phone to sending support to road traffic collisions.”

The ‘tweetathon’ is also a chance to highlight how the service should be used appropriately and the Trust is keen to stress that not everyone who dials 999 will be sent an ambulance.

Callers with less serious illnesses or injuries may be referred to NHS 111, given clinical advice over the phone or be signposted to a more appropriate service.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Dr David Macklin 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.”

A selection of calls will be captured through the service’s Twitter page, www.twitter.com/YorksAmbulance, under the hashtag #YAS247. T

he ‘tweetathon’ will start at 9am on Friday and finish at 9am the following day.