Ambulance service declares critical incident
BBCA critical incident has been declared by East Midlands Ambulance Service after what it called "additional challenges created by this week's extreme heat".
The ambulance service said it had experienced a "significant increase in demand" alongside ongoing pressure within the wider NHS, leading to the critical incident being declared on Saturday at 14:30 BST.
It comes after June temperature records tumbled and hot weather warnings were issued by the Met Office across swathes of the country.
The service said it was continuing to prioritise its response to the most life-threatening and serious incidents and asked the public to use NHS services "wisely".
'Please act responsibly'
EMAS said it had already escalated to Resource Escalation Action Plan (REAP) Level 4 on Monday, which indicated a "risk of service failure unless immediate action is taken".
The ambulance service said the critical incident followed a period of sustained pressure on all ambulance services across the country.
It said it was working with hospitals to support the timely handover of patients so ambulance crews could respond to 999 calls and working with healthcare providers to direct patients who were not in life-threatening emergencies, to the most appropriate care.
In a statement, EMAS said: "Like many across the NHS, EMAS colleagues have been working tirelessly to respond to patient need.
"All available internal actions to mitigate risk have been taken.
"Therefore, a critical incident has been declared to secure additional support and help reduce the risk of avoidable patient harm."
EMAS urged the public to help by taking regular medication to manage long-term conditions, and seeking alternative care when the illness or injury is not immediately life-threatening.
It added: "Given the additional weather-related pressures being responded to, please act responsibly and do not take unnecessary risks."
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