There are concerns in Carlow over Ambulance cover in the county
At a council meeting this week, the HSE was asked to address the situation with many people unhappy and the length of time it takes for an ambulance to get to a casualty.
There's only one ambulance to cover 56,000 people at night time.
Carlow Councillor Fintan Phelan explains the situation:
"It is unacceptable that Carlow has only one ambulance on night duty and two ambulances during the day. Carlow has a population of over 56’000 and it is wholly inadequate to have just one ambulance on night duty.’
Carlow has a population of over 56’000 and it is wholly inadequate to have just one ambulance on night duty.
When someone calls an ambulance they should not have to wait nearly an hour or longer for the ambulance to arrive as was the case of a mother in Donegal last year who unfortunately passed away.
An ambulance is called in an emergency and it is important that the ambulance arrives promptly, having only one ambulance on night duty in Carlow significantly impacts on the length of time the ambulance will take to attend a situation if it is already on a call out.
It's important to note that our paramedics do a fantastic job but they simply can’t be in two places at once, we need extra resources and cover"
The HSE responded to Beat news on the situation by saying The Ambulance Service operates on an area and national basis as opposed to a local basis.
In the County Carlow are, this is achieved by dispatching an Ambulance from the Carlow Station or from surrounding ambulance stations such as Kilkenny, Portlaoise, Athy and Baltinglass.
