Crisis in ambulance service

A PARAMEDIC working locally has spoken to this newspaper about their fears for the local ambulance service, given insufficient staffing levels.

They have said that, increasingly, there may not be a local ambulance available to attend an emergency. Patients may be reliant on ambulances to be despatched from Cork city or Kerry to remote parts of West Cork on occasion.

This could have a serious effect on patient outcomes, they noted. The problem is not enough staff to run the vehicles, and the situation is getting worse instead of better, they claimed.

Many industries are experiencing a shortage of staff. But when the ambulance service is impacted, there is a very real fear in a community, and such issues need to be urgently addressed.