LONDON — When it comes to emergencies involving unusual situations, the Welsh Ambulance Service has a clear message: if a pet alligator escapes, hold off on dialing for help unless someone is in immediate danger. This reminder aims to discourage the public from making calls that do not constitute a genuine emergency.
The U.K. is experiencing significant pressures on its health services, leading to numerous instances where individuals facing real medical crises have faced long delays in receiving attention, whether from paramedics or hospital staff. Remarkably, 15% of the 426,000 calls made to the ambulance service last year — averaging to about 175 calls each day — were determined to be non-urgent. Some of these calls were entirely unrelated to health emergencies, highlighting a troubling trend in emergency call usage.
Examples of these non-urgent calls range from reports of a painful chipped tooth to concerns about a minor cut on a toe, and even a person feeling anxious after accidentally inserting their finger into an electric socket, despite appearing unharmed. Among these incidents, one call stood out vividly to dispatcher Emma Worrall, who recounted a rather unusual request involving a pet alligator.
“At one point, I heard the word ‘alligator,’ and my supervisor’s expression showed that they were equally perplexed,” Worrall reflected. As a dispatcher, Worrall regularly faces high-pressure situations where the correct response can greatly impact someone’s survival. While she acknowledges that people’s perceptions of emergencies vary significantly, she expresses exasperation regarding non-critical calls such as those seeking assistance for being locked out of their homes or retrieving a pet from a river.
Worrall emphasized the importance of directing people to alternative solutions rather than relying on ambulance services for issues that can wait. “Our services are intended for serious conditions that pose a risk to life,” she noted.
The bizarre call about the alligator sticks out in Worrall’s memory. The father who called explained that his son’s pet had escaped and was now lurking beneath the couch, with no one having been injured — just his son feeling frightened. The father sought help from paramedics to catch the alligator.
“I made it clear that we couldn’t dispatch an ambulance for such a situation,” Worrall recounted. To the father’s incredulity, she affirmed, “No, we won’t send help until someone gets bitten, that’s correct.”
This issue of non-serious emergency calls isn’t confined to Wales; the South Western Ambulance Service in England recently reported that more than a quarter of its over one million calls last year did not require emergency assistance. Examples included calls for help finding a lost walking stick, someone who had fallen from a chair while already in a hospital, and another who complained about a terrible nightmare.
William Lee, assistant operations director for South Western Ambulance, reiterated the significance of reserving emergency services for dire situations. He emphasized, “Inappropriate calls occupy our emergency lines and divert critical resources from those who genuinely require them.”
Worrall expressed her disbelief that the man would consider an ambulance appropriate for an alligator-escaping scenario. “We might be tied up with a situation involving a pet, while someone else could be waiting for help with a cardiac arrest,” she explained, stressing the potential risks involved when resources are misallocated.
After the call concluded, Worrall took a brief moment to share the strange story with her colleagues, finding a humorous respite amidst the chaos of her shift. “After that, it was back to the routine of managing the next emergency call,” she remarked, clearly ready to tackle whatever came next.
