IF there’s one thing I’d like to happen in 2016 it’s for us all to give more genuine respect to our front-line emergency services.

Not only are hard-pressed A and E departments like the one at the Royal Bolton Hospital overwhelmed at this time of year by people with alcohol-related injuries but along with that comes a casual disregard for staff that seems to have become almost publicly acceptable.

Verbal assaults and injuries are becoming common, and just by drinking themselves to the state where they are either unconscious, hurt in a fight or fall and badly damage themselves, individuals show that they expect ambulance and hospital staff to care for them. Never mind that their injuries are largely self-inflicted.

Alcohol and drugs also create and exacerbate mental health problems, so guess where those also end up? In A and E, of course. Staff there don’t just deserve a realistic wage hike, they deserve a medal.

Our fire service personnel are also often put in personally dangerous situations when they turn up to do their job of fighting fires. The terminally stupid believe that fire officers are fair game: you set the fire, ring 999 and then wait for your latest “victims” to rock up to be the victim of stones or fireworks. It’s completely ridiculous.

Then there are all the people who ring 999 for the daftest reasons like being served a cold kebab by your local takeaway, getting a 50p coin stuck in a washing machine or being low on petrol and demanding to know where the nearest petrol station is.

I know it’s hard to believe that people do this at all, but it actually gets worse at Christmas and New Year. What on earth do these individuals think we have a police force for – and what calling 999 is for? You’d guess they would know that it’s only for “emergencies.” But I suppose for some lame-brains getting a coin stuck in a machine or suddenly needing to order a pizza constitutes an emergency.

Our front-line services consist of highly-trained and dedicated men and women. We pay to keep them well trained so that they will be able to respond when things go badly wrong.

They do a remarkable job, often under very difficult circumstances, and should plainly be used sparingly by any of us. Perhaps in 2016 we will all think twice before calling them in.