Ambulance Response times

PWEST

Hi I was just wondering on professional ambulance personnel's views on ambulance response times particularly in rural Ireland.

I live in Mayo and it appears to me that the HSE service here is not geared up to provide any sufficent response time with only 3 stations covering a huge geographical area.

This has come to light after a recent fatal RTC when it took the HSE ambulance 1.5 hour to reach the scene. In fairness the Order of Malta did reach the scene alot sooner but this was a multi casualty incident and such a response from the stautory professional service is nothing short of an absolute digrace. I wouldn't even classify where the accident occured as very remote as its only 25 miles from Castlebar , 15 miles from Westport which is a huge tourist hub with no dedicated ambulance cover.

I don't think such a poor response would be tolerated in any other developed country. From my lay vantage point the ambulance service has always been the poor relation in the view of HSE management and such an attitude is putting lives at risk.

timmywex

oh, i agree, the response times are high, but it all comes back to staff cutbacks!! There just arent enough staff to cover everywhere and there arent enough staff working at a particular time, in fairness to the paraemdics, some work 100hours a week just to keep everything in their area ticking over!!
With emergency work, there will be times when you have 3 ambulances on stand by and times when you have none!! its all to do with luck sometimes tbh!! But 1.5 hours!! where the hell were they? thats lack of priitisation staring you in the face!!

Tango Alpha 51

PWEST,
Your quite correct. That kind of delay in this day & age is outrageous. The only thing I can say is that the area your in is one of the worst for ambulance cover in the country. Having holidayed in Achill for sometime now, it is ridiculous to have to wait. The only saving grace for my colleagues on the road is that if there is only 3 ambo's on during the time in question & they were all out on calls then that would explain the delay. We are equally frustrated working within such an obsolete system but we are the poor relations when it comes to funding

MrDylan

Bit of Devils Advocate here but if Community or Voluntary Ambulances were alerted to such incidents like an RTC what would the response be?

Problem I can see is with it is that the unions, and rightly so, might feel this is a just a band aid for a full time service. The other hand is if they're never going to increase the numbers of ambulances, esp with cutbacks, why not have local community ambulances in place and on the 999 system?

sgt.bilko

PWEST wrote: »

Hi I was just wondering on professional ambulance personnel's views on ambulance response times particularly in rural Ireland.

I live in Mayo and it appears to me that the HSE service here is not geared up to provide any sufficent response time with only 3 stations covering a huge geographical area.

This has come to light after a recent fatal RTC when it took the HSE ambulance 1.5 hour to reach the scene. In fairness the Order of Malta did reach the scene alot sooner but this was a multi casualty incident and such a response from the stautory professional service is nothing short of an absolute digrace. I wouldn't even classify where the accident occured as very remote as its only 25 miles from Castlebar , 15 miles from Westport which is a huge tourist hub with no dedicated ambulance cover.

I don't think such a poor response would be tolerated in any other developed country. From my lay vantage point the ambulance service has always been the poor relation in the view of HSE management and such an attitude is putting lives at risk.

just wondering how the Order of Malta were involved in a (i presume) 999 call ?

PWEST

The accident happened near Westport, it doesn't have a dedicated HSE Ambulance so the Order of Malta are routinely dispatched to a 999 call in the area, same situation applies in Achill and other areas.

I think that the great service offered by voulunteer organisations should be a resource to assist the full time service not a substitute for it especially in realtively busy locations.

Tango Alpha 51

It might be seen as a bandaid approach to the fulltime service but we can't be everywhere. After all there is only 1300 or so fulltime national ambulance service personnel to cover the whole country. I would have no problem in voluntary organisations in a rural setting acting as first responders as long as they realise their limitiations. Also I will qualify that remark by saying if we're called to an MVC & a vol ambo is already in situ, I might make use of them to transport a stable pt.
Up around achill, westport is a nightmare for the lads in the HSE service. Like the rest of us around the country, understaffed, under resourced & overwhelmed with the volume of calls which have to be carried out every day.

MrDylan

Sounds like one way forward is training vols ambulances to fill in the gaps in rural areas within their limitations. I'm sure if the vols worked with HSE they could set themselves up better and complement the existing ambulance service.

I've heard of community Cardiac teams having problems getting the ambulance control to alert them of incidents.

Tango Alpha 51

MrDylan wrote: »

Sounds like one way forward is training vols ambulances to fill in the gaps in rural areas within their limitations. I'm sure if the vols worked with HSE they could set themselves up better and complement the existing ambulance service.

I've heard of community Cardiac teams having problems getting the ambulance control to alert them of incidents.

In order for a Communiy Cardiac team as you call them to be activated by control, they first have to be registered with them. Unfortunately some groups with the best of intentions set themselves up with out notifing the local ambulane control. It might look good in the media to say that we have now set up a team but if we don't know about it's no good. Community First Responders regulated by the PHECC (Statutory body charged with all Pre Hospital Care matters) & over seen by the HSE National Ambulance Service would be the way to go.

MrDylan

buzzman wrote: »

In order for a Communiy Cardiac team as you call them to be activated by control, they first have to be registered with them. Unfortunately some groups with the best of intentions set themselves up with out notifing the local ambulane control. It might look good in the media to say that we have now set up a team but if we don't know about it's no good. Community First Responders regulated by the PHECC (Statutory body charged with all Pre Hospital Care matters) & over seen by the HSE National Ambulance Service would be the way to go.

Yea Buzzman apparently this group in Dublin got all the i's dotted and t's crossed and asked to be contacted by control but never got called despite a few Cardiac calls.

Maybe it was deemed unneccessary to call them out due to the proximity of the nearest ambulance station, 10 mins away.

Sierra Oscar

PWEST wrote: »

The accident happened near Westport, it doesn't have a dedicated HSE Ambulance so the Order of Malta are routinely dispatched to a 999 call in the area, same situation applies in Achill and other areas.

Out of interest, what station covers Westport?

Common sense would lead me to believe that Westport would be one of the most suited areas in Mayo for a station.

Tango Alpha 51

Too the best of my knowledge the county of Mayo has only three (3) ambulance stations located at Belmullet, Ballina & Castlebar. Castlebar would service Westport. According to the AA routeplanner, the distance from Castlebar to Westport is only 16.9kms & should only take 16mins. This is providing that an ambulance was on station in Castlebar. Ballina ambulance station is 55.85kms from Westport & should take 54mins to get there again providing that it was on station.

Victor

While yes an accident can happen anywhere, I can only suggest that such situations are exacerabated by people living in the middle of nowhere, for no good reason, wasting transport time - whether transporting post or patients.