Ambulance breaks down on way to call

THE Health Service Executive (HSE) has insisted that patient care wasn’t compromised after an ambulance broke down on its way from Limerick to Shannon last Friday.

In a statement the HSE said, “A request for an ambulance was received at 9.45am on Friday, July 12, and the ambulance was made mobile at 9.48am. Unfortunately the ambulance had a fan belt malfunction and had to stand down from the call while en route between Limerick and Shannon.

“A second ambulance was assigned at 10.02 and arrived on the scene at 10.26. The call was a low priority call and the patient’s care was unaffected.”

The statement also claimed that the existing ambulance fleet in the Mid-West is fit for purpose, with a new ambulance received last year and five new ones for 2013.

“The National Ambulance Service (NAS) has a fleet replacement programme in place and over €11m in capital funding has been provided in 2013 to continue the NAS Vehicle and Equipment Replacement Programme.

“There are 29 frontline emergency ambulances in place across the Mid West; this year the Mid-West Ambulance Service will receive five new ambulances in addition to the replacement ambulance in 2012. This equates to a replacement rate of over 20% over a two-year period, which is a major development for the ambulance service in the Mid-West.”