to Sydney’s fireworks vantage points this year in preparation to treat revelers who need emergency medical assistance.
NSW Ambulance Deputy Commissioner Mike Willis said typically NSW Ambulance receives more than 1,000 calls for assistance throughout New Year’s Eve and into the early hours of New Year’s Day.
“Last New Year’s Eve, our paramedics responded to 1,479 incidents between 4 p.m. New Year’s Eve to 6 a.m. New Year’s Day. That equates to a patient every 34 seconds,” Willis said.
The busiest hours for NSW Ambulance paramedics are typically between midnight and 2 a.m. Last year during this timeframe 364 patients were treated – one every 19.8 seconds.
“While most of the millions who celebrate alongside Sydney Harbour and in other parts of NSW are well behaved, we are again expecting to be kept just as busy this New Year’s Eve.”
Months of pre-planning for NYE
NSW Ambulance puts months of planning into New Year’s Eve to ensure increased patient demand is met.
“As well as our usual paramedic rosters, our New Year’s Eve event paramedic crews will be deployed to staging points around Sydney Harbour, which we know will attract large crowds where they’ll be on standby to assist as soon as needed,” Willis said.
Special operations teams will also be deployed on land and in the harbor, and helicopter paramedics will be on standby at bases nearby to ensure paramedics can get to patients as quickly as possible.
“Unfortunately the majority of what paramedics will treat across the evening,” Willis said, “will be due to alcohol intoxication or the effects of drugs.”