Fianna Fáil Local Election candidate for Killarney Neily O’Connor is calling for additional vehicles and personnel to be provided to the ambulance service in Killarney.
At the moment there is only one urgent and one transfer ambulance available at the base in the town.
“We urgently need additional ambulances and personnel in Kerry to reduce response times across the county. Lengthy ambulance response times are all too common across Kerry, particularly in more rural areas, and I am greatly concerned that people are being put at risk because ambulances are not arriving with patients within the recommended 19-minute window”, said O’Connor.
“This official response time is particularly important in cardiac situations, whereby 8 minutes is the target; but over the past number of years we have seen compliance with that time limit deteriorate.
“Ambulances in Dublin and the commuter counties may be responding within 19 minutes, but there are obvious problems here in Kerry. Missing turnaround targets poses a series of problems – not only does it threaten the recovery of the patient, it also makes it more difficult for the paramedics to respond to other call outs.
“We need to see more resources for our ambulance service – not only more vehicles, but also more personnel, particularly advanced paramedics.
“The Minister must engage directly with officials from our ambulance services to ensure healthcare workers are listened to and that ambulance services in our county are adequately resourced”, concluded O’Connor.
