How Our Service is Changing
The Welsh Ambulance Service is changing the way it deals with 999 calls.
The introduction of new call categories has been designed so that people in a life-or-death emergency get help as quickly as possible, while people with a less serious clinical need – who may not even need an ambulance – get more suitable care.
The changes, which are in response to a new performance target by Welsh Government, aim to improve out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival rates in Wales, which currently stand at less than five per cent.
The new approach will also signal a move away from the eight-minute response time target introduced in 1974, and a focus on patient outcomes.
When you call 999 from 1 July 2025, a call taker will ask you for the address of the emergency, whether the patient is breathing and what has happened to the patient in the usual way.
The information is then entered into a computerised priority dispatch system so that help can start to be arranged.
This part remains unchanged.
Patients in the new Purple Arrest category (those in cardiac and respiratory arrest) or Red Emergency category (those at high risk of cardiac and respiratory arrest) will be sent an ambulance as quickly as possible.
Meanwhile, calls where there is no apparent immediate threat to life will be subject to a rapid clinical review by a Paramedic or Nurse to ensure patients get the most appropriate help.
If you need an immediate response, we will escalate your call to Purple Arrest or Red Emergency and send an ambulance as quickly as possible.
But if there is no immediate need to send an ambulance, your call will be passed to a Paramedic or Nurse to undertake a comprehensive clinical assessment to ensure you get the right care according to your needs.
That might still be an ambulance, but it could also be an Advanced Paramedic Practitioner in a car, a volunteer Community Welfare Responder, an appointment with your GP, self-care advice or something else.
The primary measure for Purple Arrest calls will be the percentage of people to have a heartbeat restored after a cardiac arrest, and the expectation by Welsh Government is that ambulances will respond to Purple Arrest and Red Emergency calls in an average of six to eight minutes.
A cardiac arrest happens when the heart unexpectedly stops pumping blood around the body.
Every second counts in a cardiac arrest, and early intervention – often from a bystander – will give a person the best possible chance of survival.
The Welsh Ambulance Service is asking the public to consider the following:
- Learn how to perform CPR. The Resuscitation Council UK has produced this step-by-step guide: How to do CPR | Resuscitation Council UK
- Register on the GoodSAM app if you are a qualified first aider to get an alert if there is a cardiac arrest in your area and start the ‘chain of survival’ before an ambulance arrives.
- Volunteer as a Community Welfare Responder, then a Community First Responder. CFRs are trained to attend 999 calls in their community and administer first aid before an ambulance arrives, including CPR and defibrillation.
- Register all new and existing defibrillators on the national defibrillator network The Circuit so that 999 call takers can see their location: The Circuit - the national defibrillator network
The new system will be piloted for 12 months from 1 July 2025 and, following an independent evaluation, will be considered for permanent implementation from August 2026.