Hoax calls put lives at risk warn Yorkshire air ambulance

Yorkshire Air Ambulance have issued a warning about hoax calls saying that they put lives at risk.

It comes as the ambulance service responded to 14 bogus call outs in the last 12 months - mainly from West and South Yorkshire.

The charity responds to more than 1,300 incidents in the region a year.

Mr Syrat added: “There is nothing more frustrating for our crews than landing at a scene and establishing that the call was in fact a hoax.  Not only has it wasted our time and put ours and the public’s life at risk, but there will always be other emergency services involved too – the ambulance service, police and even the fire service depending on the alleged nature of the hoax."

Four hoax calls were responded to by Yorkshire Air Ambulance’s Rapid Response Vehicles (RRVs) and 10 incidents involved the aircraft being dispatched.

Facts about the air ambulance you may not know?

• Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) is an independent charity providing lifesaving rapid response emergency treatment to people across Yorkshire.

• YAA operates two Airbus H145 Helicopters, G-YAAC and G-YOAA, from Nostell Priory near Wakefield and from RAF Topcliffe near Thirsk.

• The YAA also owns two Rapid Response Vehicles, made possible through generous grant funding.  The RRVs are used when the helicopters are offline for maintenance, during poor weather or to allow additional staff to respond on the road.

• The charity needs to raise £12,000 every single day to keep both their helicopters maintained and in the air. This is equivalent to £4.4million each year.

• YAA currently attends over 1,300 incidents every single year, which is approximately four missions a day.