Ambulance hoax calls at a cost to taxpayers of $10,000.

Hoax calls plague ambulance service - National - smh.com.au

THE Ambulance Service of NSW has responded to almost 1000 hoax calls for emergency assistance in the past 12 months.

In Sydney alone, 380 hoax calls were made to the triple-0 emergency number requesting ambulance assistance.

"Hoax calls are a severe drain on NSW Ambulance resources and cost the community many hundreds of thousands of dollars each year," a NSW Ambulance Service spokesman said in a statement yesterday. "There is also a real risk of delaying emergency assistance to patients in genuine need."

Many of the hoax calls were made on weekday afternoons and on school holidays, the ambulance service said.

"While we cannot put old heads on young shoulders, [the ambulance service] believes education is the key to helping children understand the use and value of the triple-0 service."

A recent hoax call resulted in three paramedic teams and two helicopters being sent to a non-existent bus collision at a remote spot on the South Coast, at a cost to taxpayers of $10,000.

An ambulance is sent to all calls where sufficient address details are available, even if it is suspected the call is a hoax. An ambulance will be cancelled only when a supervisor confirms the call is a hoax.