International Control Room Week: Behind the scenes of our ambulance service during the pandemic
We've been speaking to EEAST to mark International Control Room Week.
When we think of the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) we often imagine the first responders at the scene of incidents across our region.
Behind the scenes though, it's control room staff that are our first point of call in what can be the most worrying times of our lives, and that's been no different during the pandemic.
They have continued to work to find people the right support when they need it, but during the height of lockdown, EEAST found people were hesitant to call 999 when they should.
Senior AOC Manager at EEAST, Nicholas Jones, said: "We've seen periods where people haven't been calling 999 when they probably should have called a little bit sooner, and that's probably through the fear of having to call 999 when you know everyone is busy with Covid."
While there seemed to be a reduction in some calls during lockdown, EEAST said they initially saw a lot of people calling 999 with suspected coronavirus looking for advice on what to do.
There was also an increased level of unwell and very sick patients needing care.
As the country's lockdown began to ease, the number off calls did began to rise, as Nicholas explained: "We saw calls start to increase with your normal everyday activities like football injuries, rugby injuries, RTCs, which obviously subsided quite a bit whilst the country went into the initial lockdown.
"Now we are seeing the call demand like we originally were, but we are busier than before, definitely busier."
As they continue to receive more calls, Nicholas wants to remind everyone that they will always be there, despite the ongoing pandemic.
He continued: "I think it's really important that people remember as an NHS system we are still open, from the ambulance service perspective nothing has changed. We're still here to serve the people of the East of England, we're here for your needs.
"I would ask that people think before they dial 999. Take a second, assess your situation, is it an emergency? If it's not necessarily an emergency we would ask that you call 111 or your GP or consider seeing a pharmacist where it would be appropriate, but if your condition is life-threatening or your believe it to be then call 999.
"If you've got chest pains or signs or symptoms of a stroke don't hesitate, call 999 and our call handlers and the amazing team within the control room will make sure that we get the right response for your needs at that time."