AS New Year's Eve celebrations get underway, the North West Ambulance Service is preparing for its busiest night of the year.

Expecting up to 6,000 emergency calls today, December 31, the service will have 30 per cent more staff working in emergency operation centres and an extra 79 ambulances out on the road.

Revellers are being reminded to play their part in helping things run smoothly, by only dialling 999 in a life-threatening emergency.

Director of operations, Ged Blezard, said: “Although we have increased our staffing levels as much as we can on New Year’s Eve, it’s still really important that we’re only called when we’re really needed.

“During peak times, we expect that people will have to wait slightly longer for an ambulance, particularly if the patient is not in an immediately life-threatening condition, we ask people to please bear with us and only call back if there has been a change in the patient’s condition.

“We have made changes to the way we manage calls to give more information about expected wait times but we aren’t able to give a specific time. We do always get to incidents as quickly as possible but we must prioritise based on severity of the condition to allow us to attend to the most seriously ill patients first.”

Last year, NWAS saw a 50 per cent increase in emergency calls on the night of New Year’s Eve when compared to a regular Saturday night and whopping 170 per cent increase in calls to assaults.

Ged added: “New Year’s Eve is a time for fun and festivities but it’s really important to avoid spoiling the fun by drinking too much alcohol. Know your limits and be sure to plan your journey home.”

For less serious incidents that do not require an immediate ambulance response, callers are now asked if it’s possible for the patient to safely make their own way to hospital.

Similarly, if an ambulance has been called which is no longer needed, you should call back on 999 to cancel.