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Anger over delay in ambulance reaching Schull crash scene

November 7th, 2017 11:55 AM

By Kieran O'Mahony

The scene of the single-vehicle accident near Cadogan's Strand in Schull in which a man was injured in the early hours of the morning of Saturday, October 28th.

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Concerns are being raised about the availability and cover of ambulances in the county after it was alleged that  it took two hours for an ambulance to attend the scene of serious single vehicle collision.

CONCERNS are being raised about the availability and cover of ambulances in the county after it was alleged that  it took two hours for an ambulance to come from Kenmare to attend the scene of serious single vehicle collision outside of Schull over the recent holiday weekend.

Speaking to The Southern Star, Cork South West TD Michael Collins (Ind) criticised the HSE for not having an ambulance available in the county and the fact that it took two hours for one to come from Kenmare, leaving the injured party and other emergency services attending the scene, waiting on the roadside for it to come.

‘We need to know why there wasn’t an ambulance available in Cork County that night and we simply need answers as to why we had to go to Kerry to get an available ambulance,’ said Deputy Collins. ‘This could have had extremely serious consequences for the young man who was involved in the traffic accident who had serious injuries at the time and it’s not good enough that he was let there waiting at the side of the road for so long.’

Deputy Collins pointed out that this is an issue that won’t go away as it has happened in other parts of the county too on previous occasions.

‘Why wasn’t there available cover for the county that night?’ asked Deputy Collins.

The National Ambulance Service confirmed that a 999/112 call was received for the Schull area at 12.40am for the road traffic collision.

‘The National Emergency Operations Centre immediately dispatched two emergency ambulances with an advanced paramedic on board to the incident with the first emergency ambulance arriving at the scene at 01.52am. A doctor and the fire service were also dispatched to the incident,’ said a spokesperson.

The single vehicle collision occurred at around 12.30am last Saturday morning at Coorydorrigan, Schull. A 21-year-old man was seriously injured and was brought to CUH by the ambulance from Kenmare after the roadside wait. Both gardaí and the fire brigade attended the scene. 

The road was closed to facilitate a forensic collision examination and local diversions were put in place.

Gardaí are appealing for witnesses and are asking anyone who may have seen anything to contact Schull Garda Station on 028-28111, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda Station.

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