Officials in Douglas County are sounding the alarm on what they say are an influx of “non-emergency calls,” which are straining the local EMS services and emergency rooms.

“Everything from ‘I’ve had a headache for a week’, ‘I’ve had abdominal pain for four days’, a toothache, ‘I can’t sleep’.” Douglas County EMS Chief Stacie Farmer told WSB’s Jonathan O’Brien it’s a recurring problem. “We’ve got some in the community that will use 911 11 times a month, 20 times a month.”

Earlier this week, the county sent a reminder to residents on their Facebook page, urging them to utilize 911 services only when it’s a true emergency.

“We don’t ever want to tell someone ‘don’t call 911′ and it be an emergency and someone gets hurt from that,” Farmer explained. “But there has to be that education component of ‘this is when you call 911′, or ‘this is when urgent care would be appropriate.’”

The recent rise in calls for non-emergencies has put a strain on local hospitals. Farmer said that this year alone, there have been more than 500 instances where ambulances have had to wait outside emergency rooms for 30 minutes or more until a spot opened up for the patient.

“It’s equivalent to nine weeks of just parking an ambulance at the hospital and keeping it there,” she said.

This holding time keeps EMS services away from serious emergencies that come up. She hopes that more understanding and education will help alleviate the strain.

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