Ambulance crews have been praised for the work they carried out over the Halloween period.
The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service said Halloween was a “very successful” night in Derry where total of 34 casualties were treated. Thirteen people attended a triage centre set up in the city centre with four being transferred to Altnagelvin Hospital for further treatment.
Sammy Nicholl of the Ambulance Service said: “Minor injuries were the main cause, some alcohol related, but nothing serious.”
Meanwhile, the chief executive of the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, Liam McIvor, has paid tribute to the work of ambulance crews who provided what he described as a “irst rate” service to all communities throughout Northern Ireland over the Halloween period.
It was a busy Halloween throughout the North with the number of emergency calls, responded to, up 5% on last year.
NIAS crews attended 399 emergency calls throughout the day, compared to 380 for the same day last year.
141 of the calls were classified as Category A (immediately life threatening) and the crews responded to 72.3% of these calls within eight minutes compared to 70% in 2012.
Between 8.00pm on Thursday and 3.00am yesterday, NIAS responded to 25 different assaults throughout Northern Ireland.
One person, in Craigavon, was taken to hospital as a result of fireworks injuries.
Mr McIvor said the men and women of the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service had once again been available to ensure that the large numbers of people who took to the streets, on evenings such as Halloween, had a “safety net” to catch them should things go wrong.
He added: “Many of our staff have their own families with whom it would have been great to party last night but their dedication ensured that as a service we had enough resources to deal with the increase in emergency activity which continues to grow year after year.”
Mr McIvor concluded: “The job they do, in keeping others safe, is extremely important and greatly appreciated. It is a real team effort involving our operational crews, control staff, managers and support staff and partners from other organisations in areas where large street parties take place.”
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