MONTREAL -- Urgences-Sante on Monday announced that it was experiencing a sharp increase in calls for ambulance service in the Montreal area.

In a tweet posted Monday afternoon, Urgences-Sante said it had been receiving more than 80 calls an hour since 11 a.m., up significantly from the 60 calls an hour it usually receives.

While assuring the public that paramedics and dispatchers are all hard at work, the same message asked the public to call 811 to report any non-life threatening health issues.

Urgences-Sante spokesman Jeremie Lachance said that the ambulance service on Monday was receiving a surge in calls for issues that were not a risk to a person's life, nor a serious threat to their health.