B.C. Ambulance Service has put out a strong reminder that 9-1-1 calls be used for medical emergencies only.

“Calls that are inappropriate – divert resources from those who need medical attention,” says Gord Kirk, BCAS director of dispatch operations.

Last night in Oliver – police, fire and ambulance responded to a call near Gallagher Lake for a possible MVA. It turned out that horses were loose near the highway.

Last year Emergency Medical Dispatchers at BC Ambulance Service answered more than 394,000 9-1-1 calls. While many of those calls involved life-threatening situations from cardiac arrests to childbirth to motor vehicle incidents, some, however, were not of an urgent nature.