Ambulance call hoaxers risking lives, say Calderdale Lib Dem group

Following a freedom of Information request, the national party has revealed 5,715 hoax calls have been made across Yorkshire Ambulance Service over the last three years.

The party locally has said the figures are concerning as an ambulance called to a hoax is one diverted away from a genuine emergency.

With the COVID-19 pandemic ongoing, it has amplified the need to appeal to people not to make such disruptive calls, said a spokesperson for the Calderdale party, Coun Ashley Evans (Warley).

“The coronavirus crisis is an unprecedented threat.

“It is leaving the most vulnerable in our communities at risk and people are rightly worried about their loved ones.

“The people in our ambulance service are putting their lives on the line every single day to protect us.

“In turn, we have a moral obligation to do all we can to protect them,” he said.

Nationally, the party has warned Government Ministers that they must ensure ambulance services have “the resources they need to educate people over the dangers that malicious calls pose.”

Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Munira Wilson MP said: “Anyone who maliciously calls for an ambulance is putting lives in danger.”