This article is from page 13 of the 2005-10-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 13 JPG
THE issue of a 24-hour ambulance service for East Clare is to be raised in the Seanad this Vorb tee
The purpose-built, state-of-the art station in Scarriff was opened in 2003, but is open for only 19 hours a day.
Senator Timmy Dooley is to claim this evening that there is no justifiable reason why East Clare should be the only ambulance base in the Midwest region without 24-hour ambu- lance.
‘There has been a spate of accidents recent- ly in the area and many of them have taken place between 7pm and 12 midnights, a time when no staff were roster to operate the lo- cal fleet of two ambulances. Critically injured
people have had to lie on the roadside for an unacceptable length of time for ambulances to come from Limerick and Ennis while two ambulances lie idle a couple of hundred yards away, the senator said.
“This can not be allowed to continue as lives are being put at an unnecessary risk. It will only be a matter of time before a delay in the arrival of an ambulance will lead to the unnecessary loss of life. I will continue to put pressure on the Minister until the funding is put in place.”
According to figures contained in the Mid Western Health Board Ambulance Service Development Plan which was sent to the De- partment of Health just over 12 months ago, Scariff is the only purpose-built station in the Mid-West area.