Fianna Fáil TD for Cork North West Michael Moynihan has hit out at a decision to base an Immediate Care Vehicle, which has been allocated to the Mallow area, in Cork city. It follows confirmation from the National Ambulance Service that the service will be “deployed from Cork”.
Deputy Moynihan commented, “The Immediate Care Vehicle is vitally important in the rollout of acute hospital services available at Mallow General Hospital. Not only does it assist in the transfer of patients between Mallow General and hospitals in Cork city, but it is also used as a back-up for the Mallow area when there is no paramedic ambulance service available.
“The decision to base this essential life-saving service in Cork city makes absolutely no sense – it merely adds on an extra journey for the crew and could cause delays in response times in emergency situations. In the last six months the Immediate Care Vehicle has been called on to attend a number of life-threatening incidents including cardiac arrests and road crashes, when an ambulance was unavailable. The fact that the car was in the Mallow area allowed it to respond immediately to these call-outs. If it has to come from Cork, the outcomes for such cases could be seriously threatened.
“I am calling on the new Health Minister Simon Harris to reconsider the decision to base this important service in Cork and ensure that a service, which has been allocated to the Mallow area, is based there. This is a service which deals with life and death situations and it should not be based more than 30km away from its assigned location. This is a ludicrous situation and should be re-examined as a matter of urgency”.