Concern as ambulance from Portlaoise crashes in Kildare

Concerns have been raised after an ambulance travelling from Portlaoise crashed near the Laois border in Kildare at the weekend. 

"The crash of an ambulance near Monasterevin in the early hours of last Saturday morning, which had been travelling from Portlaoise to a call in Robertstown, Co Kildare, has highlighted the need for greater resources for the service,” said Social Democrats Councillor Clare Claffey.  

Cllr Claffey has called for greater resources for the ambulance service in Laois, Offaly and throughout the midlands and said that the HSE needs to explain why the ambulance was on its way to a call 50kms away outside the county.

“We need to know why there were no ambulances in Kildare at the time and what effect this would have on the emergency resources available to Laois?” she said.

“I understand that there can be as few as three ambulances available per county in Offaly and the midlands – and that’s if they’re fully staffed – and that they are regularly called to travel to other counties,” she said. 

“Staff are working up to 12 hour shifts – often with no breaks – and my fear is that it will take something as serious as this, or worse, before we do something about the lack of resources,” Cllr Claffey remarked. 

She said: “The paramedics regularly get delayed in A&E which can push their total shift out to 14 or 15 hours – and they tell me that this vital service is constantly losing staff as a result of the horrendous working conditions.  

“I understand that thankfully there were no injuries in this crash and no patient was on board on this occasion, but with a limited number of ambulances available in each of the midland counties, an incident like this reduces the ambulance resources available everywhere.”

Cllr Claffey explained that:  “When you call an ambulance now, you will be told that the ‘nearest appropriate ambulance has been dispatched’ but that could mean they are coming from two counties away.”

“We seriously need to make significant investment in our ambulance services to improve response times, to reduce the need for crews to travel outside their own county and to make sure we retain our highly trained and caring paramedics,” she said.