Only two ambulances on duty in Galway City every night

The ambulance service in Galway is being stretched past safe limits – with only two vehicles on duty for the whole of Galway City at night – a Galway TD has warned.

Deputy Noel Grealish said that the service was “a tragedy waiting to happen” and he intended to raise the issue with the Minister for Health, Simon Harris.

“Between 8pm and 8am, only two ambulances are on duty in Galway City, and then from 8am to 8pm, there are only three ambulances on duty for the whole of a city with a population of 80,000 people.

“I think is absolutely ridiculous and I think it’s unsafe for the public who find themselves in life or death emergencies.

“If there is a serious traffic accident, two ambulances usually go to that, and then if there is another emergency situation, we don’t have an ambulance available in the city if it happens at night.

“Now I know there is a limited number of ambulances located elsewhere in the county, but by the time they would come from Clifden or Tuam or wherever, you could have a tragedy on your hands. It’s just unacceptable.”

The Galway West TD said that time was crucial in cases where people got a heart attack or a stroke or other medical emergency.

“The first hour is critical. If somebody gets a brain haemorrhage they always say the window to treat somebody is within an hour, so you have to have a service that can bring somebody as quickly as possible to the hospital where that person can be treated and maybe their life saved.

“I know of one case where a lady in Knocknacarra fell and she was more than two and a half hours waiting for an ambulance . . . that is unacceptable.

“Galway is technically the third largest city in Ireland, after Dublin and Cork, and to only have two ambulances on duty from 8pm to 8am is unacceptable.”

Deputy Grealish said that the problem was being compounded by people having to be brought to hospital as a result of drinking too much on a night out.

For more on this story, see this week’s Galway City Tribune.

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