20th February 2014

Following the transfer of A & E facilities from Loughlinstown to St. Vincents I had some concerns about ambulance response times. I met with the Managers of the ambulance service in Baltinglass and they gave reasonable assurance about the service saying the budget had been increased in recent years with much preliminary diagnosis taking place when the emergency call is made and by paramedics. A large amount of training has been undertaken for this.

For some months an Advanced Paramedic and Car have been stationed, on a full time 24/7 basis, in Newcastle Hospital to service the N11 area. This can diagnose issues and give some drugs and treatment quickly. The managers said it had been used a lot in Greystones. Also there is a special vehicle to transfer patients between hospitals. Both of these are new and reduce the demand on full ambulances.