The St John Emergency Ambulance Service experienced a busy Easter period responding to 62 incidents during the four days of the holiday.

During this period there were twenty occasions when staff were called in to cope with the high demand. Emergency calls included two serious incidents, one involving a man who’d fallen thirty feet at St Peter Port harbour on Friday evening and one for a man who was rescued from the sea in an operation involving all the emergency services and the RNLI.

The majority of the cases attended were for medical conditions, including breathing difficulties, diabetic emergencies and elderly people falling, plus calls to people who were intoxicated.

The high number of calls over the Easter weekend comes at the end of a busy first three month period of the year for St John. During the long bank holiday weekend five medical air charter flights took place with patients being conveyed to or from Guernsey airport.

The first quarter of 2018 has seen a steady increase in demand for the service, with an increase of 10% in incidents for the corresponding period in 2017 and an almost 14% increase from 2016.

Chief Officer Ali Marquis wishes to thank the St John Emergency Ambulance Service staff and volunteers for their dedication during this busy period and also extended her thanks to their families for their support during the holidays.