Paramedics on bicycles to be used in tourist hotspots during summer influx
Pressure is being put on the East of England Ambulance Trust to improve ambulance response times in North Norfolk, and to make sure everyone visiting the area this summer is safe. - Credit: Eastern Daily Press
Pressure is being put on the East of England Ambulance Trust to improve ambulance response times in North Norfolk, and to make sure everyone visiting the area this summer is safe.
Duncan Baker, MP for North Norfolk, alongside the North Norfolk Coastal Towns and Parishes Emergency Services Response Working Group is calling on the ambulance trust to ensure it is prepared for an influx of visitors to the coast this summer.
The CTPESR working group, which meets quarterly to discuss reducing ambulance response times in North Norfolk, consists of representatives of parish and town councils between Cromer and Wells, the EEAST, CCGs and Mr Baker.
In a bid to meet the anticipated increase in demand, the ambulance trust will deploy paramedics on bicycles, more first responders and improved signposting to services.
The group meets quarterly with the most recent meeting taking place on Wednesday, May 13, with a particular focus on the upcoming summer season.
Duncan Baker, Conservative candidate in North Norfolk. Picture: SUPPLIED BY THE CANDIDATE - Credit: Archant
Mr Baker said: "[We need to] ensure people coming here are safe and the ambulance service recognises that they have got to put additional resources and personnel in place to deal with the influx we well get this summer."
Dr Victoria Holliday, chairman of Cley parish council and the working group said an important aspect of the response to increasing visitors numbers would be signposting people to the right sort of help.
She said: "I think we will be busy [this summer] I would have thought it will be the same if not more so than last year, it puts a lot of pressure on North Norfolk."
Dr Victoria Holliday, Cley-next-the-Sea parish council chairman - Credit: Copyright: Archant 2019
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Dr Holliday said North Norfolk had an older demographic and increasingly younger visitors who when visiting the area liked to be more active and take part in activities where they could injure themselves.
She said she felt the emergency services' response seemed "a lot more joined up this year than in previous years" and felt confident that there "would be more provision for people if something should happen to them."
A spokesperson for the EEAST confirmed the trust had drawn up "extensive plans" to deal with the "expected increased activity in north Norfolk as lockdown eases and there is an influx of tourists in the summer months" including making use of the cycle response units in areas expecting high footfall.
