Laois deserves an ambulance service we can have full confidence in, says local councillor

PORTLAOISE based Independent county councillor Tommy Mulligan is calling for “the inadequacies of the operational systems in which paramedics (ambulance crews) are compelled to carry out their daily duties,” to be addressed.

In a statement cllr Mulligan said: “Presently, paramedics are experiencing incredible frustration with their systems of work. Paramedics are a critical part of our community health service, and they provide our community with an invaluable service. Unfortunately, it appears there are serious shortcomings in the ambulance service in Laois that need to be brought to light and issues that need to be addressed.

“Ambulance resources have not matched the growing population of Laois over recent years. According to Census 2016 the population of Laois increased by 5.1%. In Census 2022 the population of Laois increased by another 8%. The 2022 Census also revealed that the population of the county was 91,877 with the number of people aged 65 and over increasing 25%.” 

He said: “Laois has one ambulance station in the county. Offaly have three ambulance stations with a population of 82,688 (Census 2022). Another station in the county where Intermediate Care Vehicles (ICVs) could be located would greatly benefit the county and improve the current situation. These vehicles could be used to transfer patients from one hospital to another who do not require immediate intervention and who are not life-threatening transfers. Currently the emergency ambulances are carrying out these duties.”

“The current dispatch protocol by the National Emergency Centre,” said cllr Mulligan, “is to send the nearest ambulance available at the time of call to all emergency calls, regardless of where their station or region might be. This method of dispatching is creating large areas, for periods of time, where the is no resource to respond within an acceptable range, meaning the closest ambulance could be as far as 100km away thus having a negative impact on response times and patient outcomes.

“Ambulance crews favour the older system where crews always responded to calls within an acceptable radius of their base which gave a better balance of resources and less chance of long distances between ambulance and patient. An improvement of the current dispatch system would be to keep sufficient ambulance cover within reasonable radius of their bases, and if out of county transfers need to be done which is always going to be necessary then the resources should be able to return to their own local area or region at worst.

“Presently, due to the operational call system, ambulances are responding to ‘non-emergency’ calls. The AMPDS (Advanced Medical Priority Dispatch System) is the triage system used by the National Emergency Operations Centre. Frequently this results in an ambulance travelling long distances when not appropriate. Consequently, there are occasions when our vital emergency ambulances are unavailable for emergency calls where clinical interventions are needed. Alternative options are available, and these options should be explored to ensure emergency ambulances only attend emergency calls.” He said: “The National Emergency Operations Centre are mobilising ambulances within 90 seconds of a call coming in regardless of how far away the call is. This may be the case, but the ambulance could be an hour’s distance away from the patient. The focus is on statistics but should be on patient care and survival rates. By keeping ambulances in their locality, we can mobilise an ambulance immediately to get to the scene as soon possible as opposed to travelling from an hour away.” 

“The present operation system appears to be a system of chance in Laois,” said the councillor.

“This is not satisfactory in my opinion and not an adequate system for the people of Laois. An adequate ambulance service is essential for saving lives and ensuring that medical emergencies are handled with the necessary speed and expertise. There have been reported instances in recent times when the emergency services were required in Laois and surrounding areas and there was no ambulance in attendance for a considerable time.” 

Cllr Mulligan said: “I have first-hand experience of the other side of chance. In July 2020 my dad had a massive heart attack out in Rathleague in Portlaoise GAA grounds. Fortunately, when the emergency services were called there was an ambulance in close proximity. The ambulance crew worked on my dad in Rathleague and then he was rushed to Saint James Hospital in Dublin as an emergency case where he received immediate attention. If an ambulance had not been available that day there is a good chance, he would not have survived.” 

“An effective ambulance service is essential for public health and safety,” he said. 

“The people of Laois deserve an ambulance service we can have full confidence in and that will be available around the clock in the case of an emergency. The ambulance service staff deserve to have a working operation system that they believe in. It is important that their issues are addressed, and their concerns are alleviated. It is my opinion that the current operational system is not providing the most optimum care to the people of Laois. Ambulance services are for time time-critical emergencies. Emergency services are there to provide medical attention for illnesses or injuries requiring immediate treatment/intervention. This service is time critical. Delayed treatment/intervention results in poorer outcomes. This is putting the public at risk as the potential of no ambulance or delayed ambulance results in the people of Laois having poorer health outcomes due to the current operational system of the ambulance service in the county.”