Ambulance staff tackle 2,000 calls on Hogmanay
Ambulance staff had a busy night across the country on Hogmanay as they dealt with more than 2,100 calls, according to service chiefs.
Their control centres in Scotland took 2,149 calls overall between 7pm on Thursday December 31 and 7am on New Year's Day.
The total volume of calls was 9.5% lower than last year's total of 2,376, but the service said it did experience intense periods of high demand.
Scottish Ambulance Service staff managed over 225 calls per hour between midnight and 7am, when crews were at their busiest, responding to 5% more incidents than last year.
The most intense period of the night happened between 2am and 3am, when control room staff handled over 400 calls.
Additional call handers, dispatchers and ambulance crews were on duty to deal with the high demand that makes Hogmanay the busiest night of the year.
Service chief executive Pauline Howie said: "As always, our staff in ambulance control and out in our communities showed their professionalism and commitment on what is always a very challenging night. They did a fantastic job managing high demand across the country, ensuring that patients received appropriate care.
"Although call volumes were slightly lower, over three quarters of overall call demand occurred between midnight and 7am with intense periods of activity in the early hours.''