Overeating caused stomach pain and dentures to disappear... Bizarre call received by the ambulance team

Wales 999 (Our 119) Absurd Cases
68,000 Out of 410,000 Calls Are Non-Emergency Situations

Unrelated to the article content, an image of paramedics in action [Photo source=Pixabay]

The emergency medical transport service 999 in Wales, UK, has revealed some "absurd call cases." These included people trying to call an ambulance after eating too much kebab, someone who had put their dentures in incorrectly, and a person whose hand got stuck in a mailbox, among various other cases.

UK's Sky News reported that over the past year, the Wales 999 service received a total of 414,149 calls, of which 68,416 were not life-threatening emergencies.

Sky News also released some actual call transcripts. One Wales resident admitted to the 999 operator, who asked, "Please explain exactly what the situation is," that "I ate kebab last night, but I think I ate too much. I woke up this morning with a very bad stomach ache."

Another case involved a person whose hand was stuck in a mailbox. When the operator asked, "What is the current condition of the patient?" the caller replied, "Actually, I am the one who is hurt. My hand is stuck in the door." When the operator asked again, "Is the door closed?" the caller answered, "Yes, it is closed. My hand is stuck in the mailbox." The operator, bewildered, asked, "How old are you?" but the only response was, "Please open this (mailbox) door, my hand is stuck."

There was also a patient who called 999 claiming to have lost their dentures. Through Sky News, the 999 service warned that such indiscriminate use of emergency medical services can endanger the lives of patients who truly need help. Andrew Swinburn, head of the Wales emergency services, pointed out, "Inappropriate calls add to the burden on an already overstretched emergency medical service." He added, "We ask the public to use 999 sensibly," emphasizing that "most people can distinguish between a real life-threatening emergency and a situation where they are simply uncomfortable or in pain."

In South Korea, false and prank calls to 119 are also increasing. There have been false reports to 119 about planting explosives or threats of murder, as well as many cases where people call for an ambulance due to minor accidents or because they cannot get a taxi.

According to the National Fire Agency, false and prank calls to 119 numbered 738 in 2020, 955 in 2021, and 986 in 2022. From 2020 to the first half of 2023, the total was 3,009 cases. It was found that 97.7% of all false reports were related to emergency medical services. Since 2020, fines for false and prank calls have been increased from a maximum of 2 million KRW to up to 5 million KRW, but the number of fines imposed remains in the single digits.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.