Category Archives: Emergency services

Home births cancelled at short notice due to Victoria’s ambulance crisis

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The state’s two publicly funded home-birth programs are suspended, with some expectant mothers not told until weeks before due dates

Expectant mothers are having planned home births cancelled within weeks of their due dates, with Victoria’s ambulance crisis putting intense strain on the state’s maternity services.

Victoria has just two publicly funded home-birth programs at Sunshine and Casey hospitals – both of which are now temporarily suspended. Assisted home births require ambulances to be available in case of any complications during the procedure.

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NHS in England and Wales treated fewest ever violence-related injuries in 2020

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Lockdown was reason behind sharp fall in number of people treated by NHS for injuries outside the home, say researchers

Lockdown led to the smallest number of people on record being treated by the NHS for injuries caused by violence away from the home, a study shows.

The closure of pubs, clubs and other venues that sell alcohol as part of the bans on social mixing was a key reason for the sharp decline in serious violence, the researchers say.

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Ambulance technician killed in accident in Herefordshire

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The technician was attending a 999 call when an object struck the ambulance windscreen

An ambulance technician has died after an object struck his vehicle’s windscreen as he was responding to a 999 call in Herefordshire.

The incident took place at 8am on Saturday at the junction of Moreton Road and the A49, near the village of Moreton on Lugg, north of Hereford.

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Police should carry drugs overdose antidote, says senior officer

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Exclusive: NPCC’s drugs lead backs wider supply of naloxone after successful trials

The overdose antidote naloxone should be made available to all police officers in areas where there is a clear need, the police chiefs’ drug lead has urged after successful pilot schemes.

North Wales police and Police Scotland are trialling having beat officers carry naloxone nasal sprays that can be used to treat opiate overdoses, and West Midlands police have extended their pilot scheme, with a rollout due to be announced.

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Two Manchester Arena bombing victims could have been saved, inquiry hears

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Evidence given that Saffie-Rose Roussos and John Atkinson could have survived with ‘different’ emergency service response

Firefighters did not arrive at Manchester Arena until two hours after the suicide bombing, only one paramedic entered the blast scene in the first 40 minutes, and Greater Manchester police (GMP) did not declare a major incident until the following day, the inquiry into the terror attack has heard.

The Manchester Arena inquiry, which resumed on Monday, moved to examine the response of the emergency services to the tragedy.

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Residents of Victorian town returning home after leaking dam forced evacuation

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Emergency services have worked for two days to secure 180-megalitre dam in Torquay south-west of Melbourne

Emergency services have told 100 people living in a coastal Victorian town they are able to return home after volunteers worked for two days to secure a 180-megalitre private dam that was found to be leaking on Friday.

Volunteers knocked on doors at over 40 homes in Torquay, about 80km south-west of Melbourne, on Saturday afternoon telling 109 people to leave due to fears the privately owned dam could burst.

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Emergency services scrap £900k of vehicles after Salisbury attack

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Police and ambulance units replaced 24 cars, vans and 4x4s due to novichok contamination

Emergency services spent hundreds of thousands of pounds scrapping and replacing contaminated vehicles after the Salisbury nerve agent poisonings, it has been revealed.

Police and ambulance services had to destroy 24 cars, vans and 4x4 vehicles following the attack on the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia. The pair collapsed after coming into contact with novichok at Skripal’s home in Salisbury on 4 March last year. DS Nick Bailey, 39, was also taken to hospital.

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Firefighters tackle blaze in Birmingham warehouse

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West Midlands fire service called to reports of a huge fire at a furniture warehouse

About 100 firefighters have been deployed to tackle a huge fire near a train station in Birmingham.

West Midlands fire service (WMFS) said they received several 999 calls at about 5.11am on Monday after reports of a large blaze at a furniture storage warehouse in Tyseley.

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