FALSE: DO NOT SHARE
Claim:
Soon ambulances won’t be responding to 999 calls.
Answer:
This is false, SECAmb (where the nurse claims to work) have said this did not come from them and is incorrect.
FURTHER INFORMATION
This voice note claims to be from a UK nurse who has just attended a Public Health England meeting. She claims that due to the health service being inundated with deaths, ambulances will no longer be responding to emergency 999 calls for help from the public.
This is false. The Government has been closely monitoring the spare capacity of NHS services like ambulances, and has been slow relaxing restrictions as this spare capacity has been maintained at all times. The South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Trust (SECAmb), where the nurse claims to work, have said, ‘We are aware of a voice message being shared currently on social media regarding the ambulance response to coronavirus. The alarmist information being shared in the message is not correct. We would urge people to disregard the message and not share it further. In line with our ongoing plans during this challenging time, we are continuing to follow national guidelines regarding the ambulance response and thank the public for their ongoing support in following the government’s advice.’
Many messages like this have appeared on social media from unnamed seemingly reputable sources (e.g. doctors or nurses), claiming to have inside knowledge of what the government and the health officials are going to do next to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Remember to be aware that unnamed and verified sources are unreliable and can be used to add authority to false or misleading rumours. Anyone with COVID-19 symptoms is urged to call NHS 111 and order a test to check whether they are infected
SOURCE
UK Cabinet Office: Staying alert and safe (social distancing) until 4 July
South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb): Public message
Origins of Claim
Shared on Whatsapp
FULL TEXT OF CLAIM
“ Okay so I’m sending this message after a meeting today at work and when I say to you I didn’t realise the severity of what it’s going to be like next week but I need to pass this on to all family and friends. Okay, and this is no way of exaggeration, this is come from Public Health England to all ambulance services in the UK.
We are being moved up to the floor above at Secamb in a shape of a triangle so there’s two metres between us all. As of Thursday of this week we will be hitting our peak and we will be facing 900 deaths a day. That’s not people being COVID-19 positive that’s deaths a day. 1/3 of them are going to be babies, children and teenagers with no underlying health issues, okay. We’re going to hit it Thursday because COVID-19 incubates for two weeks which is why people have been self isolating. Anyone that was asymptomatic will be showing signs of coronavirus as of Thursday/Friday this week, okay. The model figures were eighteen hundred they’ve halved to 900 that’s still 900 deaths a day.
Now the scariest thing they said to us is that when usually if somebody is struggling desperately for every breath and they cannot complete a sentence we send a category two ambulance, that’s an 18 minute blue light response. If anybody now as of Thursday rings and that be a baby, a child, a teenager, an adult with or without underlying health issues rings us up and says they are struggling desperately for every breath we will have to and will be telling them to manage them symptoms at home. And when I asked at what point will we be sending they said we won’t, they will be dying at home. Every mortuary in the UK is full. We are now sending bodies to every ice skating rink there is in the UK, okay. That’s the severity we’re facing as of Thursday.
My message to all of you is to stay indoors. That means no exercise outside – exercise indoors, no barbecues – eat indoors. Do not go out of your house unless it is a life threatening situation, okay. As of next week the government will be announcing there will be no exercise, daily exercise, okay. You will not be allowed out of your house as of next week. They also will be having street marshals where like Morocco you will be putting, be getting a piece of paper stamped just to prove that you were going to get medicine or you are proving to go and get not just food but essential food, okay.
So as of Thursday guys please stay indoors and another thing they mentioned was I know it sounds really really minor, but just washing your hands every 20 minutes saves you a massive risk of coronavirus. You don’t know what handle people have been touching, you don’t know how long it’s sat on that surface all you have to do is wash your hands every 20 minutes so just do it guys don’t question it just do it – even if it does nothing for you, bonus, whatever just do it.
What I’m saying to you is this Thursday stay indoors please do not go out for exercise please do not go out to get things from the shops when you don’t need to, if you’ve got things in your cupboard try and get by with them just till we pass this from Thursday to Tuesday they’re saying 900 deaths a day do not put your family at risk.
”
