A DROWNING goldfish, an injured cat, a dead squirrel and a drunk man wanting a taxi - what have they all got in common?

Unfortunately, they were all the subjects of 'emergency' calls to the ambulance service this summer.

New figures reveal the East Of England Ambulance Service Trust has received 1,144 hoax calls in the last two years, which diverted time away from genuine emergencies.

The highest proportion of these - 320 calls - were made by people in Essex.

The Trust ranked the following among its most ridiculous requests:

  • A man asking for an “animal ambulance” for a critically injured squirrel in north Cambridgeshire. This comes after the Trust received a similar call about a dead squirrel in Essex last year
  • A drunk man outside an Essex nightclub who wanted a taxi
  • A woman calling about a cat with a broken leg in north Cambridgeshire
  • A child who called 999 and told a call handler in Chelmsford that their goldfish was “drowning”
  • A call to an unconscious man in Bedford, who turned out to be snoring in the back of a taxi.

Between April 2014 and March 2016, 151 hoax calls were made by people in Bedfordshire, 190 in Cambridgeshire, 156 in Hertfordshire, 174 in Norfolk and 153 in Suffolk.

Gary Morgan, Head of Emergency Operations Centres (EOC), said: “Just because 999 is an easy to remember number does not mean it is acceptable for people to misuse it or treat it as a telephone directory.

“Hoax and inappropriate 999 calls have the potential to divert attention away from real emergencies and we will refer people who misuse the service to our police colleagues to take action.

“We’d urge the public to remember that the ambulance service is for emergencies such as cardiac arrests, patients with chest pain and breathing difficulties, unconsciousness, strokes, trauma, choking and severe allergic reactions.”

The Trust launched It’s Your Call campaign last year, which aims to inform people and educate others on how 999 calls are handled and prioritised, so that in the event of a medical problem, they feel better equipped to know what to do.

For more information, click here