LONDON, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- A survey revealed Wednesday that more than half of 18 to 24 years olds in London seek non-emergency help from Britain's busiest ambulance service.
The new city hall commissioned survey about London Ambulance Service shows younger Londoners over-rely on ambulances because they can't access other services.
The poll was carried out as part of the London Assembly Health Committee's investigation into the future of the London Ambulance Service.
The results revealed 23 percent of 18-24 year-olds would call an ambulance because they couldn't get an urgent family doctor appointment.
More than half of 18-24 year-olds would call an ambulance in a non-emergency situation because they have no other way to get someone to hospital.
Another finding revealed that one-in-three Londoners and half of 18 to 24 year olds would call an ambulance because they didn't know what else to do.
"While over 90 percent of people think the ambulance service should only be used in emergencies, one in 10 Londoners would call an ambulance because their child got their hand stuck in a jam jar," the report added.
Dr Onkar Sahota, chair of the assembly's Health Committee said: "It's worrying that younger people feel that sometimes that don't have any other option but to call an ambulance.
"Paramedics are highly skilled professionals providing a first line of treatment to those most in need of urgent healthcare.
"Sadly, the 999 (emergency call) system can be abused by those with spurious issues but it also has to cover for problems in other parts of the healthcare system."
London Ambulance Service CEO Garrett Emmerson said: "The latest poll of Londoners shows we need to remind people, of all ages to use us wisely and only call 999 in a genuine emergency.
The London Ambulance Service is the busiest ambulance service in the country, handling over 1.9 million emergency calls from across London and attending more than 1.2 million incidents in the past year.
