Following concerns raised in the local press regarding ambulance response times, James Duddridge, Member of Parliament for Rochford and Southend East, contacted Hayden Newton, Chief Executive of the East of England Ambulance Service. James has now received a response explaining the various emergency categories:
Category A - which are potentially life threatening, and require an eight minute response.
Category B - which are serious but not life threatening, and require a nineteen minute response.
Category C - which are deemed as non-life threatening and which require a clinician to telephone the caller back, or an ambulance, within one hour.
James was informed that as soon as the exact location of the 999 call has been confirmed with the caller, an emergency response is dispatched to the location. When further information has been established and the call has been allocated a response category, the dispatchers re-assesses the resources which have been deployed. This ensures that ambulances resources are sent quickest to those in greatest need and also ensures that the patient receives the most appropriate response for their condition.
James said
“I am grateful for the clarification in relation to the response times and hope that my constituents also find this useful. The response times are all based on the patient being categorised appropriately, initially by the caller, and then by the emergency response unit, who re-assesses the patient.
“I urge my constituents that, should you find yourself in need of an ambulance, please ensure that you provide as much accurate information as possible to the 999 operator.”
ENDS