Yorkshire Ambulance Service declares ‘critical incident’ status

Yorkshire Ambulance Service has urged people to only call 999 for serious or life threatening injuries because it is under “extreme pressure”.

YAS, which covers the Harrogate district, said in a statement it was operating on Resource Escalation Plan 4.

This is the equivalent to Black Alert for hospitals and is only declared when an ambulance service can no longer effectively deliver a service due, typically due to a major incident

All 10 ambulance trusts in the country have now declared a similar status.

Staff shortages and hot weather are among the reasons.

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YAS has asked people to consider contacting their GP, pharmacy or practise self-care as alternative options to the ambulance service.

A spokesperson for YAS said:

“An extremely high volume of calls is currently having a significant impact on both our 999 and NHS 111 operations.

“We have taken the decision to move to REAP Level 4, our highest level of escalation, and while the situation is being managed in line with the plans that we have in place to protect our core services, unfortunately there are patients who are facing delays and we are very sorry that we are unable to respond to them as quickly as we would like.

“All emergency calls are categorised according to the nature of a patient’s illness or injury and those in a life-threatening condition are always prioritised. It’s important that members of the public only call 999 for an ambulance when it is a serious or life-threatening emergency. This will help us to focus our efforts on our most poorly patients.

“You can also help us by not calling back to check where the ambulance is as we need those phone lines to be free for those in a life-threatening condition. However, if the condition of the patient changes or if you feel you no longer need an ambulance, it’s important that you let us know.

“For anyone with less serious illnesses and injuries, they should consider self-care, their local pharmacy, GP surgery, urgent care centre or making their own way to the emergency department. Our NHS 111 service is also available online at 111.nhs.uk or by calling 111.

“We will continue to monitor the situation closely and thank all our hard-working staff and volunteers for their efforts at this challenging time.”

Multiple vehicle crash on A1 at Allerton Park

Emergency services were called out shortly after midnight last night to reports of a car crash on the A1 in the Harrogate district.

Two people needed treatment from ambulance crews at the scene following the incident, which happened on the northbound carriageway at junction 47.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service‘s incident log says firefighters from Knaresborough and Harrogate attended a “multi-vehicle road traffic collision”. It adds:

“On arrival crews found that no persons were trapped. Two walking wounded casualties with minor injuries were left in the care of police and ambulance crews.

“Crews made the scene safe and carried out a thorough search of the embankment for further casualties. Incident left in the hands of police.”

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Harrogate’s John Shackleton hoping to deliver ambulance to Ukraine

Harrogate’s John Shackleton, 83, is hoping to deliver an ambulance to war-torn Ukraine in September.

Local hero John has delivered almost 40 ambulances to hospices and hospitals in Eastern Europe since 1990 through his charity Aid to Eastern Europe.

He is no stranger to Ukraine, having previously delivered ambulances there in 2014 and 2016. He described it as “such a beautiful country”.

He said if the situation with the war improves, he will buy an ambulance from auction in Amsterdam and drive into Ukraine so it can be used by people injured in the conflict.

If he’s not able to enter the country, he has a backup plan to deliver the ambulance to a hospice in Georgia.

John said:

“Its very sad, I’ve been trying to contact my pals there but haven’t been able to get through. The situation is terrible.

“Ukrainians are exceedingly friendly, lovable people and they are very devoted to their country. They are so powerful in their thinking, they will die for their country”.

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To raise money to buy the vehicles, John chops down trees, cuts lawns, mends bicycles — anything to raise the £12,000 to £15,000 it costs to purchase an ambulance.

But he is currently under doctor’s orders to rest after suffering a heart attack last month.

It happened while he was chopping a tree down at the Oval in Harrogate last month whilst he had his chainsaw in hand.

Fortunately, he had his team with him and they took him straight to Harrogate District Hospital.

Amazing adventures

In January, The Stray Ferret met John at his home to discuss his amazing charity adventures and life.

Since then, he’s been featured on BBC News and had offers from Japanese, German and Gibraltar TV to come on his next trip.

He added:

“I don’t know how to deal with this, never had this publicity!”

To donate and help John buy a new ambulance, email johnshackleton@aidtoeasterneurope.co.uk

Under pressure Yorkshire Ambulance Service drafts in the military

Yorkshire Ambulance Service has recruited 40 military personnel to offer additional support as it experiences “operational pressures” during the pandemic.

The service said as a result of the Omicron variant it is facing rising numbers of staff going into isolation and calls for help from the public.

This has forced the service to redeploy remaining staff to frontline services and bring in military support for less urgent jobs.

The 40 military personal will be working alongside paramedics to attend minor cases and assist with hospital transfers and discharges.

Nick Smith, executive director of operations, said:

“As part of our resilience planning, we have always had the option of making a request to the military for help and we have now asked for that assistance.

“We will be able to use military personnel to work alongside our staff, enabling us to support patients and get people the treatment they need sooner. This, in turn, will free up our staff to attend to serious and life-threatening cases.”

The new recruits will begin training with the ambulance service next week and are expected to start working with patients within a fortnight.

They will receive training in driving ambulances, manual handling, kit familiarisation and basic life support.

The service has insisted it is still “fully operational” and said it expects the military will assist paramedics for a “number of weeks”.

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The ambulance service is also temporarily suspending some non-emergency transport to general outpatient appointments.

It will, however, continue to offer transport to patients receiving life-saving treatment, such as renal dialysis or chemotherapy, treatment for covid, those being discharged or admitted to hospital or transferred between hospital sites.

Specialist paramedics rescue woman who fell in Harrogate woods

Specialist paramedics rescued a woman who had fallen and injured herself in a Harrogate woodland.

Two Hazardous Area Response Teams (HART) and a regular ambulance team attended reports of a fall at 11am just off Oak Beck Road, close to the retail park.

On arrival the paramedics secured the area and managed to get the patient out of the woods and into the ambulance.

The paramedics then took her to Harrogate District Hospital for treatment. It is unclear at this time what level of injuries the woman sustained.

A spokesperson for the Yorkshire Ambulance Service said:

“We received an emergency call at 11.01am this morning to reports of a female who had fallen in the woods behind the retail park on Oak Beck Road in Harrogate.

“We dispatched an ambulance and the Hazardous Area Response Team to the scene and one patient was conveyed to Harrogate Hospital.”

The HART teams provide care to people in a hazardous environment that would otherwise be beyond the reach of NHS care.

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Yorkshire Ambulance Service says some patients waiting ‘longer than we would like’

People are having to wait longer for ambulances due to “extremely high demand” caused by covid and the easing of lockdown measures.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust issued a statement today saying demand was at winter levels.

It said demand had increased throughout April, May and June and more staff were isolating or sick due to covid.

The trust reiterated its call for people to only call in serious or life-threatening circumstances.

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Nick Smith, executive director of operations at the trust, said:

“We have been experiencing periods of extremely high demand, particularly during the last few weekends and this has had a significant impact on our operations.

“We have continued to respond to those in need as swiftly as possible, but acknowledge that some patients are having to wait longer than we would like them to.”

The trust receives around 2,800 emergency and routine calls per day and employs over 6,300 staff.

Ripon couple saved as tree falls in heavy snow

Two couples from Ripon were caught up in unexpected drama yesterday when a tree fell under the weight of snow.

Nicole Bond and her partner Ben Crewe were walking near College Lawns, just off Palace Road, yesterday lunchtime when they heard a cracking noise.

Assuming it was pallets being broken up on the nearby business park, they thought nothing of it – but seconds later realised what was happening. Nicole said:

“Ben looked up and shouted ‘run!’. I froze, but he ran out of the way. Luckily, I was right by where the tree fell, but I didn’t have to move.

“There was a couple that didn’t have time to move. As the tree was falling, there was a massive plume of snow that came up and covered everybody.”

As soon as the snow settled again, Nicole realised how big the tree was – and the damage it could have done.

“I thought the worst had happened. We were screaming, ‘are you OK? Are you hurt?’ Ben went into complete action mode and started pulling branches to get to them and I called for an ambulance.”

Yorkshire Ambulance Service arrived quickly after the tree fell on a couple in Ripon. Photo: Nicole Bond

The huge tree fell under the weight of snow in Ripon. Photo: Nicole Bond

Very quickly, Ben managed to reach the couple. The woman was shaken but didn’t seem badly hurt, but her husband had a head injury that was bleeding.

Ben and Nicole used their clothes to apply pressure and stop the bleeding, following instructions from the call handlers on the phone.

They were warned that, thanks to the road conditions, it could take 40 minutes for an ambulance to arrive – but it only took around five minutes before paramedics were on the scene. They treated the injured couple before taking them to hospital for further assessment.

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Nicole has since been contacted by the woman to say they are both recovering, her husband having been treated for concussion, and to thank her and Ben for their help on the scene.

It was only chance they were all in the wrong place at the wrong time: Nicole and Ben took a different route for their usual dog walk because of flooding. Having spent the morning helping drivers make their way along snowy roads near home, they had just paused to take a video of the road conditions in the area – and a few seconds more or less could have made all the difference to how the incident played out.

Nicole added:

“It’s just crazy. It was all over within 10 minutes, including the ambulance getting there. We barely even had time to think at all.

“I was quite glad I took Ben out for a walk with me, and for the ambulance staff keeping everybody calm. It could have been a lot worse.”

The fallen tree in Ripon has already been broken up and made safe. Photo: Nicole Bond

The fallen tree in Ripon has already been broken up and made safe. Photo: Nicole Bond