Monday 28th September 2015 – 6.40pm – Murray MacGregor.
Ambulance bosses are paying tribute to the immense effort put in by staff over the ‘Super Saturday’ weekend.
With the Trust only 6 calls shy of 6,000 999 calls over the two days, demand was significantly above what would have been expected for a normal weekend.
However, due to good planning and a lot of hard work from staff, many of whom gave up a weekend off to come in to work, the weekend went exceptionally well from a patient perspective.
With a bumper programme of international sport, fashion, music, events and shopping on the cards, along with good weather, the whole region was buzzing with activity.
Emergency Services Director, Craig Cooke, said: “We started planning for this weeks ago to ensure people continued to get the medical support they needed in an emergency.
“We put in place joint working with police, the Rugby World Cup medical staff at Villa Park, and the teams of community first responders who assisted over both days. The arrangements we put in place meant we had forward operational commanders in place at all of the major public areas such as the Fan Zone, city centre and Villa Park. Our City Centre Treatment Unit also operated with additional staffing throughout the weekend in Birmingham’s Broad Street.
“I’d like to pay tribute to our staff, who not only provided first rate clinical care to patients, but also got into the spirit of the weekend.
“In the main, the public took on our request to take responsibility for their own safety and the majority were good natured and were clearly enjoying the atmosphere.
“Right across the region our staff worked tirelessly to provide very high levels of care to patients in their hour of need.”
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