New 11-strong ambulance crew set to take up duty

Galway’s ambulance service has been bolstered with the addition of another 11-strong crew.

The investment should result in greater ambulance coverage and response times in the city, and have a positive ‘ripple effect’ to areas in the county such as Connemara and Tuam.

Historically, Galway had four ambulance crews operating from the city on Thursday only; every other day, there were just three crews.

However, recent changes and addition of extra resources mean that there are now four ambulances on duty every day, Monday to Sunday.

An extra night crew is now operating out of Merlin Park Hospital seven nights a week; that means three crews instead of two are on the night shift.

The number of frontline ambulance staff has increased by 11 to just over 40, to facilitate the operation of the extra service.

Paudie O’Riordan, Chief Ambulance Officer and Area Operations Manager West, told the Galway City Tribune that the extra resources were a “big bonus” to the service offered by the Ambulance Service in Galway.

Mr O’Riordan explained that an extra advance paramedic response car has been added to the service in Galway City during the week. This is subject to review, he said, and staffing levels of six will remain the same for this service.

It will operate in the city day and night, Monday to Sunday, with the exception of Saturday. There will be “knock-on effects” for rural areas as a result of these extra services in the city, he said.

Prior to the recent changes, ambulances from Clifden, An Cheathrú Rua, Tuam and elsewhere often got ‘caught’ responding to a call in Galway city after going to University Hospital Galway. They were returning to the county but had to respond to city calls because they were the nearest ambulance – leaving their county base’s exposed.

This is less likely to happen under this new, better resourced service, said Mr O’Riordan, because there is an additional ambulance crew based in the city.

He pointed out that a combination of an aging population, and a greater willingness on the part of the public to phone for an ambulance has contributed to higher demand. Call-outs in the West, he said, have increased by 5% since 2010.

Meanwhile, in response to questions from City Councillor Terry O’Flaherty (Ind) at the latest HSE West Regional Health Forum, Mr O’Riordan has outlined the investment planned for a new ambulance base at Merlin Park.

Mr O’Riordan said: “The additional day and night crew are operating out of the temporary base in Merlin park. We have received planning for a new ambulance base in Merlin Park and in the service plan for 2019 we will be looking for capital funding to go to tender. The design team have been appointed and were central to the design and submission of the planning application.”

Cllr O’Flaherty has welcomed the positive changes. “An extra crew is good news for Galway,” she said.