THE ISLAND’S emergency response times are among the best in the country, according to recently published national statistics.

The figures for 2009/10, published by National Statistics and The Information Centre for Health and Social Care, show that:

The service attended 17,500 emergency incidents in 2009/ 10 compared to 17,300 in 2007/08. Of the emergency incidents, 4,900 calls were Category A, classed as immediately life threatening. There were also 7,000 calls of Category B – serious but not life threatening – while 5,600 calls were Category C – urgent but not serious or life threatening.

Of the 4,900 calls requiring an emergency response, 77.2 per cent were responded to within eight minutes, placing the Island in second place out of 12 ambulance services in England.

The figures, published by National Statistics and The Information Centre for Health and Social Care, also revealed 97.1 per cent of the Category B calls were responded to within 19 minutes. The aver- age for England is 96.8 per cent, the Island came fourth.

Of the 5,600 calls which were judged to be less urgent (Category C) 96.7 per cent of ambulances arrived within 19 minutes. The average for
England is 91.0 per cent and the Island came top in the country. In 900 cases calls to the 999 service were resolved with telephone advice.

Ambulance spokesperson Ian Yeo said: “Although we are the smallest Ambulance Service in England the latest national figures show once again that Islanders receive a fast service. In an emergency a first responder, a paramedic or emergency care practitioner in a fast response car or an emergency ambulance will be on the scene within minutes.

“Even with an increase in the number of calls we have maintained our fast response times. The support of both frontline staff and those who take the calls in the emergency call centre is essential and we couldn’t achieve our excellent performance times without their hard work and dedication.”

The Ambulance Service including non-urgent patient transport services has an annual budget of £6m. The Ambulance Service fleet of
30 vehicles includes 10 emergency ambulances, 10 fast response vehicles and 3 co-responder vehicles. The Service employs 132 staff including 70 paramedics, 18 emergency vehicle operatives, 2 technicians, 16 High Depen- dency or Patient Transport staff and 23 call centre staff.

Head of the Island’s Ambulance Service, Chris Smith said: “The team effort of all staff, both operationally and in the Control Centre, contributes to us achieving these targets. We may be a small service but we have proved year on year that we can deliver an excellent service for patients. I want to say a big thank you to everyone who contributes to this achievement.”

Chief Operating Officer for NHS Isle of Wight’s provider services, Karen Baker added: “This is a tremendous achievement by the Ambulance Service. We can all be proud of the service and confident that they will be there when we need them.”