Police are driving home the message that the emergency services shouldn't be called for a lift.
Last night (Saturday) several 999 calls were made from people asking the police to get them home. One caller, having failed with the police, rang back and asked for the ambulance service.
'Unbelievable as it is,' said Sergeant Paul Kemp, 'we are going to have to reiterate that the emergency services are not there to provide taxis and 999 is for emergency calls only.
'Throughout our service we receive banter from people asking for a lift home. However, this evening there appeared to be an actual expectation that officers would comply with these requests. 999 lines were also being taken up with the same requests and unrealistic expectations and each call can often take minutes to assess the situation. This doesn’t sound much but can be an eternity if it delays a genuine emergency being reported and could potentially threaten a life. Please don’t call for a taxi on 999.'
He said it remained vitally important that anything believed to be genuine emergency is reported via 999 so an immediate response can be given.
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