Paramedics praised for tackling ‘Black Friday’ celebrations

Staff have been praised for their efforts amid higher numbers of call-outs during the last weekend before Christmas, also referred to as Mad Friday and which is notorious for emergency incidents as people celebrate the end of work and last payday before the big day.

West Midlands Ambulance Service staff have been praised for coping “magnificently with the onslaught” with 156 call-outs on Friday and 185 the next night in Coventry and Warwickshire alone.

Between the hours of 8pm and 4am on Friday and into Saturday, staff were called to 156 incidents - slightly lower than the 185 calls in the same hours from Saturday into Sunday.

Figures are only slightly higher than the weekend before where staff were called to 177 incidents on Saturday evening.

And a spokesperson for the ambulance service said the figures were only marginally nigher than an average Saturday night which in November ranged from between 140 and 153 through the month.

Gold Commander on the evening, Nathan Hudson, said: “It was another hugely busy evening for our crews, but again, they were brilliant and provided a really high quality of service with rapid responses to cases.

“As you would expect we saw a wide range of alcohol related incidents, ranging from people who had fallen over as they couldn’t stand up they were so drunk, to assaults, unconscious patients, and also drug related incidents from people who had taken so called legal highs.

“Despite often difficult circumstances, staff remained professional and provided high levels of care. Please accept my thanks for the tremendous job that you have all done.”