The crowds during King’s Day in Amsterdam this year led to an unmanageable situation for the ambulance service, according to an internal report by Ambulance Amsterdam. The service also criticizes the municipality in the report.
According to the report, which is in the possession of AT5, the municipality’s call to avoid the city center on King’s Day was ineffective. In the evening hours, the number of open emergency calls increased rapidly. Around 10:00 PM, there were no ambulances available for thirty emergency calls.
According to the service, aid workers were overstretched and the control room was insufficiently staffed to handle the large number of calls. Employees said they felt powerless.
The number of emergency rides on King’s Day has been increasing for years. In 2024, there were 306 rides, this year there were 403. The evaluation also shows that a striking number of minors needed medical assistance, often as a result of excessive use of alcohol or drugs.
The role of the municipality of Amsterdam is also discussed in the report. According to the service, it was already clear in advance that the weather would be good and the large crowds were to be expected. Nevertheless, insufficient measures would have been taken to control them. “The municipality of Amsterdam allows unlimited partying,” says medical personnel.
Halsema not surprised about the content of the report
Mayor Femke Halsema is not surprised about the content of the report. “It is not for nothing that we have been actively campaigning over the past year against all people who do not come from Amsterdam, to celebrate it in their own city,” she tells AT5. “But the complicated thing about a public holiday is that there is no drawbridge that you can raise. You can’t tell people they can’t come.”
The mayor states that measures have already been taken; for example, the amount of beer that people are allowed to have with them has been limited. “We have to think very carefully about how we are going to regulate it better. Make sure that people are very well warned and that it becomes more of a local party than a national party.”
Halsema has announced an investigation in the city council. The mayor wants to know what Amsterdammers themselves think of King’s Day and what they want. It should also be investigated how the municipality of Amsterdam can spread the party better.