Ambulance delays will cost lives

Connemara communities have warned that locals in need of urgent hospital care will die – because three-hour waits for an ambulance from Galway have become the norm.

In one case, an ambulance was called for a patient with a serious heart condition at 2.30pm, but the patient did not arrive at University Hospital Galway until 6.45pm.

And the National Ambulance Service has rejected a proposal by locals that a Red Cross ambulance – which was paid for by community fundraising – be used to transfer patients to UHG from around Connemara, claiming it is not up to standard.

However, at a meeting with the NAS, locals said they would prefer a voluntary ambulance that is not up to standard, than one which can take three hours to arrive. The local Ambulance Crisis Steering Group – which meets in Leenane – sent a delegation to meet with the two most senior officials in the NAS, outlining the seriousness of the situation for local communities.

But the group was left infuriated at suggestions that further fundraising could be used to upgrade equipment used by volunteer First Responders – and that locals would ‘appreciate it more’ because they paid for it themselves. NAS Director Martin Dunne and Medical Director, Dr Cathal O’Donnell were told that at present, the ambulance service for rural parts of Connemara is totally inadequate.

“A two to three hour wait for an ambulance to arrive seems to be a regular occurrence, if not the norm. Then there is the 50 or 60 mile journey – or more – after that,” they were told at the meeting.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.