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Report: UK family called EMS over 2K times in 1 year

Officials said the unnecessary calls have placed a strain on EMS providers, and places callers who have an actual medical emergency at risk

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Another family in a neighboring city reportedly made over 2,000 calls to 999, with only five of them requiring medical attention.

AP Photo/Frank Augstein

By EMS1 Staff

DONCASTER, England — As 2016 came to a close, British EMS providers published a series of statistics revealing alarmingly high call volumes.

One family dialed 999 around 838 times — averaging roughly two per day, reported the Doncaster Free Press. Nearly 300 ambulances were dispatched to the same family, and transported a patient to the hospital on 114 occasions.

Another family in a neighboring city reportedly made over 2,000 calls to 999, with only five of them requiring medical attention.

Officials said the unnecessary calls have placed a strain on EMS providers, and places callers who have an actual medical emergency at risk.

“We are here to help everybody, and will always try to advise or send people to the correct agency if it is not us, but please think before you call us if it is not a genuine emergency,” National Health Service officials said.

NHS officials also noted that for each call the agency answers, it costs them around $10.

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