There were over 100 people across Northern Ireland left waiting for ambulances on Friday night, with Saturday evening also displaying similar pressures throughout the health system.
The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) made the decision to only respond to serious ‘life or death’ situations.
A spokesperson said that the service is “experiencing severe challenges as a result of the pressures being felt across the HSC (health and social) system today.”
“Emergency Crews on duty today and tonight will be supplemented by Rapid Response paramedics and further support has been provided by the Independent and Voluntary ambulance sectors.
“These crews will deal with lower acuity calls, thereby keeping NIAS crews available for more serious emergencies.
“Delayed turnarounds at hospitals impact on NIAS capacity to respond to life threatening emergencies in the community and we continue to work closely with EDs to release crews at the earliest opportunity.
The spokesperson continued: “All calls received by NIAS are subject to triage to ensure that those who are sickest, receive our quickest response. This will unfortunately mean delays for patients waiting with less urgent conditions and NIAS would apologise to those patients who find themselves in this situation.
“We would ask the public to consider other alternatives to calling 999, such as seeking advice from GP out-of- hours, advice from pharmacist, or self presentation at hospitals if absolutely necessary.
“We would also ask those who are waiting for an ambulance, not to call back as this can impact on the ability of our control room staff to promptly answer calls, more serious in nature.
“NIAS also has a number of Paramedics in the control room who may call patients back to establish the most appropriate action to meet their needs, which may include non attendance at hospital.
“We appreciate and ask for continued patience of the public as they wait for an ambulance response. We are doing what we can to improve the situation.”
The announcement follows news that nearly 400 people are waiting on hospital beds throughout the region as well this weekend.
BBC News NI reported that “one ambulance has been waiting outside a hospital for nine hours on Saturday, and that there is not enough staff or space to facilitate crews or patients.
The Western Trust said that as of Saturday afternoon, 70 people are awaiting beds across their trust area.
On Friday, the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust reported a total of 38 patients were waiting for admission to a hospital bed.
“When fewer people are in work, the numbers we see in emergency departments are exacerbated as they are more likely to come in for lesser injuries, which shows these increases in waiting periods,” said a spokesperson for the Belfast Trust.