*The matter was discussed at the April meeting of Clare County Council.
ELECTED members of Clare County Council were told to “be cautious” with a proposal to base ambulance units at fire stations in Ennis, Kilrush and Shannon.
At the April meeting of the County Council, a joint proposal from Cllr Antoinette Baker Bashua (FF), Cllr Tommy Guilfoyle (SF), Cllr Ian Lynch (IND) and Cllr Rachel Haritgan (FF) called for dedicated ambulance units to be based at fire stations in the county.
Costs involved led to the top table of the local authority issuing a note of caution to the request from elected members.
Ambulance response times in Co Clare are “unacceptable,” the quartet outlined in their joint motion. “Local authorities are tasked with protecting life and responding to emergencies. Yet, in County Clare, firefighters are increasingly left providing critical first response care while patients wait prolonged periods for ambulance transport, an arrangement that is neither sustainable nor acceptable”.
They cited the Dublin Fire Brigade operated by Dublin City Council which provides integrated fire and ambulance services with twelve emergency ambulances and twenty plus fire engines for “demonstrating that co-location is a practical, proven solution that can significantly reduce response times and save lives”.
A review of ambulance cover across the county was requested along with the “adoption of co-located fire and ambulance response models where appropriate to ensure no community is left waiting in an emergency. This is a matter of patient safety, equity of service, and public confidence. Delays cost lives, this
must be acted on without further delay”.
Speaking at the April meeting, Cllr Baker Bashua stated, “We’re talking about people not stats”. Lives have been put “at risk” by the lengthy wait times experienced by the Clare public for ambulances. “We’re tasked with protecting life, how can we stand over that responsibility when we know people are waiting far too long for support. In Dublin, fire brigades and ambulances work side by side, it saves time. Why should people of Clare expect anything less. Why should we have to wait longer or hope harder just because of where we live, we are not asking for special treatment. When someone dials 999 they shouldn’t be worrying if the ambulance will get there in time,” she added.
Fire stations can be utilised better, Cllr Guilfoyle maintained. “It is not us saying we don’t need more from NAS, we’re saying provide the service at our fire stations which would be of great benefit to the people in the county”.
There are too many occasions where West Clare residents have been left without an ambulance, Cllr Lynch said. “We have resources, our fire personnel are superb, we don’t have an ambulance bay but we have one sitting in Kilrush”.
Dublin’s model is proven and “has delivered results, we should be exploring and implementing similar situations in Co Clare” Cllr Hartigan insisted. Extra pressure has been placed on firefighters by getting them to try fill the gap for paramedics, she said.
An ambulance helicopter plan should also be assessed, Cllr Tom O’Callaghan (FF) said. “Now that we know our hospital won’t be in Clare, we need this more than ever. We also need to look at a helicopter plan, I know more than anyone from my family that when tragedy hits time is of the essence”.
Kilkee is also worthy of an ambulance base for the people living in the Loop Head Peninsula and Doonbeg, Cllr Dinny Gould (IND) flagged. “There was an incident beyond Cross two weeks ago, an ambulance went up the narrow road but damaged its tyre, the paramedic never realised the tyre was damaged, they were gone four miles when he realised he had puncture. Farmers came out to help and they were told another crowd had to do it so the patient was taken out of ambulance and brought back to their house, by the time the puncture was fixed, it was 5pm”.
Director of Service for Transportation, Climate Action, Environmental and Emergency Services, Carmel Kirby told the meeting the Fire Service does responds to calls to assist the ambulance service and that the presence of defibrillators in their vehicles “has resulted in lives being saved in the county”.
She issued a note of caution to councillors on the costs involved with their proposal. “We really need to reconsider this because we need to proceed with caution, Clare County Council is not compensated by the NAS to assist with ambulance service, there is a cost implication there for Clare County Council”. She said Dublin City Council footed a bill in the region of €26m in 2023 for their service and they were only able to recoup €9m from the NAS. Recruitment of firefighters is “in a much better place” for the local authority. In response, Cllr Baker Bashua said she wanted the HSE to bear the costs.
