Swords Ambulance to be removed - Time to Take Action!

johnnyrotten

The Dublin Fire Brigade (DFB) have operated a full-time station in Swords since January 2007. The HSE also have an emergency ambulance based in Lissenhall , Swords.
The DFB operate the emergency ambulance under contract to the HSE and have been running the ambulance service since 1898 . All Dublin firefighters are also paramedics and do both jobs in rotation.
When the Swords station became full-time in January 2007 the city manager decided to directly fund the provision of an extra emergency ambulance to be based in Swords. This ambulance is averaging 4800-5000 calls per year.

The DFB management have been told by Dublin City Council to reduce their budget immediately and as a result Senior management informed unions , at a metting on 21/10/10, that the Swords ambulance will be removed as it is not being funded by the HSE. The HSE also owes money to the City Council for the provision of the other 11 DFB emergency ambulances.

If this DFB ambulance is removed it will decrease the cover for the city and more importantly for the North County. Because the DFB fire crew are also paramedics the fire tender will be sent to more and more medical cases as a result of no ambulance availability or delayed response. The consequence of this will be that the fire cover in the area will obviously be reduced also.
E.g. A man collapses at his home in Malahide with a heart attack...The nearest available ambulance is coming from North Strand or Phibsboro... The Swords fire tender is dispatched to Malahide, being the nearest available medics....Whilst there a house fire occurs in Swords Manor...the nearest fire appliance may be Finglas, Balbriggan ( Retained) or Kilbarrack, at least 15 mins away.

The annual cost of 1 DFB ambulance is €750,000 - €85 an hour!

Lobby your local TD's and councilors ASAP to try to put some pressure to stop this happening.

RobFowl

Will do

bcmf

count me in.

Corsendonk

When lobbying your local councillors it might be worth pointing out the lack of a Hospital in Fingal and the increasing number of elderly nursing homes in the area that the said councillors have signed off on in recent years, with Loughshinny been the latest granted approvel. These elderly residents would be among the high risk section of the population requiring the use of the emergency ambulance service so doesn't really make sense increasing the high risk category population in the area but decreasing the service levels.

trad

As the DFB Swords ambulance was not funded by the HSE why did Dublin Fire Brigade undertake to do something outside of their contract?

johnnyrotten

trad wrote: »

As the DFB Swords ambulance was not funded by the HSE why did Dublin Fire Brigade undertake to do something outside of their contract?

John Tierney, the city manager decided to place an ambulance in Swords when the station changed from retained to full-time. This was in Jan 2007 when funds were ok. I suppose he felt that it was a good gesture as 1 ambulance provided by the HSE was and still is'nt enough for the whole north county.

The annual cost of 1 DFB ambulance is €750,000 - €85 an hour!

johnnyrotten

Corsendonk wrote: »

When lobbying your local councillors it might be worth pointing out the lack of a Hospital in Fingal and the increasing number of elderly nursing homes in the area that the said councillors have signed off on in recent years, with Loughshinny been the latest granted approvel. These elderly residents would be among the high risk section of the population requiring the use of the emergency ambulance service so doesn't really make sense increasing the high risk category population in the area but decreasing the service levels.

Good point Corsendonk

bcmf

Is there any way to get some an e-mail text done so everyone that is against this can send it on to EVERY councillor.

johnnyrotten

here is the page on Fingal Co Co with the list of councillors
http://www.fingalcoco.ie/YourLocalCouncil/LocalDemocracy/Councillors/

johnnyrotten

Below are the email addresses of all Fingal Councillors:

alan.farrell@fingalcoco.ie
ken.farrell@fingalcoco.ie
davidj.oconnor@fingalcoco.ie
tom.oleary@fingalcoco.ie
ciaran.byrne@fingalcoco.ie
may.mckeon@fingalcoco.ie
clare.daly@fingalcoco.ie
gerry.mcguire@fingalcoco.ie
tom.kelleher@fingalcoco.ie
darragh.butler@fingalcoco.ie
anne.devitt@fingalcoco.ie
peter.coyle@fingalcoco.ie
cian.ocallaghan@votelabour.ie
eoghan.obrien1@gmail.com
joan.maher@fingalcoco.ie
ruth.coppinger@fingalcoco.ie
kierandennison@gmail.com
patricknulty@gmail.com
dmcguinn@tcd.ie
michael.odonovan@fingalcoco.ie
eithne.loftus@fingalcoco.ie
cllrpeggy.hamill@fingalcoco.ie
mags.murray@fingalcoco.ie
mattwaine@gmail.com

The Hill Billy

Don't forget our local TDs & Senators. They should also be interested in supporting the local community in this regard.


Stickying this to highlight it.

Corsendonk

24 councillors, 23 on your list


alan.farrell@fingalcoco.ie

johnnyrotten

Fixed that, thanks

Beasty

I have reason to be grateful for the ambulance services in Fingal - I believe it was the DFB one that took me to hospital last year following a serious cycling accident - I was at the Beaumont within 40 minutes of the accident (not that I can remember anything about it;))

I also was at the scene of another accident last week, when these guys turned up to take another injured cyclist to hospital

This is a vital service that Fingal really cannot afford to lose - I shall lobby, and provide my "experiences" of the critical service they provide

johnnyrotten

Last weeks Northside People,
Also headline article in Swords Gazette

med1

the hse ambulance in swords operates a 12 hour shift 24 hours a day saying the nearest ambulance is north strand is unfair to hse paramedics.i think the original poster is dfb staff .i do agree that the dfb ambulance is required in swords as well but the hse wont pay for a service it already pays for.cutbacks would be better in reducing senior fire officers or taking of services that are done by others like the swiftwater rescue which should be done by the coastguard as it is their responsibility or the decontamination unit which is an army job that would provide the funding for the ambulance

trad

So, if I understand it correctly, Dublin City Council funded an ambulance for the residents of Fingal County Council on the back of a contract that they did not have with the HSE.

Sounds to me the problem is with Dublin City Council.

Paulzx

med1 wrote: »

.cutbacks would be better in reducing senior fire officers or taking of services that are done by others like the swiftwater rescue which should be done by the coastguard as it is their responsibility or the decontamination unit which is an army job that would provide the funding for the ambulance

1.... What has that got to do with the DFB ambo in Swords?


2.....You obviously haven't got a clue what you are talking about. Swiftwater rescue is provided by numerous Fire Services all over the country.
Could you please show me where there are Coastguard swiftwater rescue techs stationed in Dublin?

med1

Paulzx wrote: »

1.... What has that got to do with the DFB ambo in Swords?


2.....You obviously haven't got a clue what you are talking about. Swiftwater rescue is provided by numerous Fire Services all over the country.
Could you please show me where there are Coastguard swiftwater rescue techs stationed in Dublin?

paul it is the coastguards job to do water rescue why they dont have a boat in the liffey is proberly down to dfb doing it saving the coastguard money.
the savings i am talking about would pay for that ambulance to stay

Paulzx

med1 wrote: »

paul it is the coastguards job to do water rescue why they dont have a boat in the liffey is proberly down to dfb doing it saving the coastguard money.
the savings i am talking about would pay for that ambulance to stay

If the HSE paid the money they owed for the ambulances that are contracted the ambulance could stay.

I'm not going to go anymore off topic here discussing Swiftwater rescue

med1

the city council should chase up the money from the hse its not that the hse hasnt got the money squandering it on reports even their own ambulance service is underfunded so i doubt they are in a hurry to pay for any ambulance at all no matter who owns it unless it works in administration

johnnyrotten

med1 wrote: »

the hse ambulance in swords operates a 12 hour shift 24 hours a day saying the nearest ambulance is north strand is unfair to hse paramedics.i think the original poster is dfb staff .i do agree that the dfb ambulance is required in swords as well but the hse wont pay for a service it already pays for.cutbacks would be better in reducing senior fire officers or taking of services that are done by others like the swiftwater rescue which should be done by the coastguard as it is their responsibility or the decontamination unit which is an army job that would provide the funding for the ambulance

1. The ref to North strand is an example, Swords HSE ambulance is not always available.
2. I am DFB staff !
3. SRT is the job of the fire service
4. I agree the no. of senior officers should be reduced
5. The coastguard are not responsible for inland waterways.
6. Decontamination is the job for the fire service.

I would be making the same arguments is the HSE ambulance was being cut.
Stop trolling and trying to turn this into a DFB v HSE debate

med1

hi i am not trolling
i am ex hse but trained by the fire service and believe the hse ambulance service is top heavy with officers administrators who should be gotten rid of
the hse should be paying for the service they have contracted out.
swords does need 2 ambulances minimum the hse tried it a few years ago when the swords lads put the second vehicle on the road but got shotdown for it.
the advent of paramedic cars should have improved the situation but doesent appear to have
hopefully sense prevails and with pressure both ambulances can be retained

The Hill Billy

med1 - This purpose of this thread is to garner support for retaining the ambulance service in Swords. But do not drag this thread off-topic with other arguments.

If you wish to start a thread about the issues that you have already raised in this thread about the emergency services in general - by all means take it to the Emergency Services forum.

Take care,

HB

johnnyrotten

med1 wrote: »

hi i am not trolling
i am ex hse but trained by the fire service and believe the hse ambulance service is top heavy with officers administrators who should be gotten rid of
the hse should be paying for the service they have contracted out.
swords does need 2 ambulances minimum the hse tried it a few years ago when the swords lads put the second vehicle on the road but got shotdown for it.
the advent of paramedic cars should have improved the situation but doesent appear to have
hopefully sense prevails and with pressure both ambulances can be retained

Good points MED1, the bottom line here is that more ambulances are needed not less, we can argue all day about where money is wasted but when it costs just €85 an hour for an ambulance it makes no sense to remove it, thanks

sdanseo

I still don't get why DFB is funded by DCC to operate in an FCC area. Do FCC pay anything towards the provision of service?

Paulzx

sdonn wrote: »

I still don't get why DFB is funded by DCC to operate in an FCC area. Do FCC pay anything towards the provision of service?

Dublin City Council provides the Fire Service for the whole of Dublin. They receive funding from South Dublin County Council, Fingal County Council and Dun Laoighre Rathdown for the assets based in their areas.

Under the 1981 Fire Services Act the local authority is the repnsible body for providing fire cover. The Act makes provision for one Local Authority to provide cover for another.

It makes complete sense from an efficiency and financial point of view that one local authority in Dublin admianister the service

dfbemt

Why not move one of the 2 ambulances in Tara Street out to Swords and provide only the 11 ambulances that are contracted for? After all, there is a HSE ambulance station in Dublin City Centre which, from experience, is under utilised. The ambulances in Dolphins Barn, Phibsborough and Tara Street respond to way more calls than the HSE ambulances based in St James' Hospital.

Bottom line, cutbacks have to be made. I would rather we lost an uncontracted for and unpaid for ambulance rather than fire engines.

As much as I would like to, we can't have it all.

johnnyrotten

dfbemt wrote: »

Why not move one of the 2 ambulances in Tara Street out to Swords and provide only the 11 ambulances that are contracted for? After all, there is a HSE ambulance station in Dublin City Centre which, from experience, is under utilised. The ambulances in Dolphins Barn, Phibsborough and Tara Street respond to way more calls than the HSE ambulances based in St James' Hospital.

Bottom line, cutbacks have to be made. I would rather we lost an uncontracted for and unpaid for ambulance rather than fire engines.

As much as I would like to, we can't have it all.

Because the HSE pay for ( albeit not fully ) 2 ambulances to be based in Tara Street (HQ).
Cuts have to be made indeed but not frontline services, there are many places when saving can be made.

dfbemt

The HSE pay for 11 DFB ambulances, not 12.

Dublin City Council nor Fingal County Council are responsible for the provision of emergency ambulance services. This is the remit of the HSE. If the HSE only want DFB to provide 11 and if they only pay to provide 11, then why provide 12??

The obvious solution is to move D114, the call sign for the 2nd ambulance in Tara Street, out to Swords and call it D134. Or, remove D134 because the HSE will not pay for it and let the HSE provide the ambulance service in the North County, as per the Ambulance Service Review.

In this case Dublin City Council have gone outside their contract.

johnnyrotten

dfbemt wrote: »

The HSE pay for 11 DFB ambulances, not 12.

Dublin City Council nor Fingal County Council are responsible for the provision of emergency ambulance services. This is the remit of the HSE. If the HSE only want DFB to provide 11 and if they only pay to provide 11, then why provide 12??

The obvious solution is to move D114, the call sign for the 2nd ambulance in Tara Street, out to Swords and call it D134. Or, remove D134 because the HSE will not pay for it and let the HSE provide the ambulance service in the North County, as per the Ambulance Service Review.

In this case Dublin City Council have gone outside their contract.

You are correct the HSE pay for 11 DFB ambulances, not 12. Part of the problem is that the HSE are not even fully paying for it with over €3.5 Billion outstanding.

The HSE contract requires 2 ambulances based in Tara Street. I cant see that changing,

The bottom line is that a frontline emergency ambulance in Swords will go and will not be replaced.