Dublin's emergency services in crisis
BY SEAN BRADY
The minister needs to carry out an immediate investigation. He needs to
sort out the bureacracy that is creating the breakdown in accident
response. Every minute's delay could exacerbate the injuries of accident
victims
- Seán Crowe
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Sinn Féin's EU candidate for Dublin, Seán Crowe, has claimed that there is
a breakdown in Dublin's emergency services. People critically injured in
accidents are lying at the side of the road awaiting treatment while in
many cases, the nearest ambulance is not contacted. He says that ambulance
personnel have complained to him that undue delays are being caused because
dispatchers are in many cases not contacting the nearest ambulance.
``The emergency dispatch system isn't responding to accidents in the most
effective way,'' says Crowe. ``The system whereby the nearest ambulance is
ignored or overlooked by dispatchers needs to be urgently addressed and
examined by the minister responsible, Brian Cowen. I have contacted his
department about two recent examples in the Tallaght area where the nearest
ambulance, sited in Tallaght Hospital, was not contacted after serious
accidents in the area.
``This breakdown in the system involves the difference between the life and
death of accident victims. The minister needs to carry out an immediate
investigation. He needs to sort out the bureacracy that is creating the
breakdown in accident response. Every minute's delay could exacerbate the
injuries of accident victims. His investigation needs to pay particular
attention to the system where the nearest ambulance has in the past been
ignored.''
Meanwhile, the Dublin ambulance fleet is being run into the ground, with a
major accident likely unless old ambulances are replaced.
Ambulance drivers at one Dublin fire station this week reported that in the
case of at least one ambulance, the accelarator cable is getting stuck,
resulting in the ambulance not being able to stop when required. Because of
this dangeous fault and the risk of causing an accident, one ambulance
driver admitted that he did not drive the ambulance as fast when answering
a call as he did five years ago. The driver said that there is a major
accident waiting to happen. In another indication of the run-down state of
ambulances, a patient en route to hospital had to be removed from an
ambulance because fuel and fumes were leaking into it from the engine. The
Chief Fire Officer is reported as saying that across the 26 Counties the
ambulance fleet is in an apalling state.
The situation with the emergency services in the city is likely to get
worse in the coming weeks as crucial talks at the Labour Court to avert a
national strike by firefighters, due to begin on Thursday, 3 June, broke
down. The Labour Court is no longer involved in the dispute and both sides
met on Wednesday to plan emergency cover during the strike.
The unions representing the firefighters, SIPTU and IMPACT, said their
members had already given more than enough productivity to justify payment
of a 9% increase to maintain their parity with gardaí.
Among the items conceded so far by the unions are the amalgamation of the
Dublin and Dún Laoghaire Fire Brigades, involvement in offshore
fire-fighting, the use of defibrillators in ambulances, increased
after-hours calls and pre-fire planning.
Management are seeking to reduce the crews on fire tenders and to use more
civilian staff, as well as the introduction of new rosters and the
redeployment of tenders.
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