A MAN who superglued his finger to his ear and another who wanted to check he would be alright after eating an out of date ready meal are just two of the needless 999 calls made to the ambulance service over recent days.

South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust says 999 calls have risen with the temperature during the heatwave - and is asking the public to ensure they do not misuse the ambulance service.

Between the start of July 19 and the end of July 21, SCAS, which covers Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire and Oxfordshire, responded to 4,412 emergency calls – of which 1,192 were potentially life-threatening.

The service says this is 355 more emergency calls, including 54 more immediately life-threatening calls, than in the average weekend in June.

With the hot weather creating an increased demand on the service, it says it does not have the resources to waste on unessential calls.

A statement from the SCAS said: “Please remember that misuse of the ambulance service costs lives “Calling 999 for an ambulance when you don’t need one may result in vital resources being unavailable to respond to patients who genuinely need them – patients suffering life-threatening injury or illness.

“What’s more arriving by ambulance at a hospital’s Emergency Department (A&E) doesn’t guarantee that you’ll be seen ahead of other patients who don’t. All patients are prioritised according to the severity of their condition. Those suffering from life threatening injury or illness are seen and treated first.”

Other unnecessary 999 calls in recent days included a female who’d cut her foot - when SCAS arrived on the scene she was sat in a car waiting for them. The crew dressed her cut and told her to visit the walk in centre if it worsened. Another call came from a male who’d burnt his throat on a microwave meal.

And SCAS said it still received a large number of hoax calls – 592 between January 1 and June 30 this year.

This figure includes one received last Saturday from a child in Hampshire claiming that a 41 year man was in cardiac arrest. SCAS sent a Rapid Response Vehicle, a double crewed and a community responder. Several police units from Hampshire Constabulary also arrived at the address but found no trace of the man. Police believe the hoax call was made by a 12-year-old child and the matter is being investigated further.

Another hoax call was received on July 22 claiming a 15 year old female had suffered a cardiac arrest in Reading. Two ambulances, an officer and Thames Valley Air Ambulance were dispatched to the scene. The caller stayed on the phone until SCAS told them they had arrived at the scene. The caller hung up and turned their phone off. No one at the address knew anything about the reported incident and SCAS has now reported the caller to the police.

For more information about the consequences of abusing the 999 number please go to www.999southcentral.co.uk/