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Ambulance Response Times "Are Disturbing"

Wednesday, 22 February 2023 09:34

That's according to David Hall, the chief executive of Lifeline Ambulance Service.

It took over four hours for an ambulance to arrive at a life-threatening emergency call, 94 times last year. 

According to freedom of information figures, 21 were over five hours. 

Westmeath has the third highest response time in the country at just over six hours. 

It was due to slow allocation by dispatch.

In the region, the volume of work and distance involved was given for response times. 

The longest wait in Laois was four hours and five minutes, while it was three hours 44 minutes in Offaly. 

The HSE aims to respond to life-threatening heart and respiratory calls within 18 minutes and 59 seconds in 80 per cent of cases. 

Other life-threatening emergencies should be responded to within the same timeframe in 50 per cent of cases. 

On almost 6,200 occasions last year, it took over an hour for an ambulance to respond to either of these types of calls. 

The longest was almost 7 hours and 10 minutes to a call in Waterford. 

That was followed by over 6 hours to calls in Cork and Westmeath. 

A total of 233 response times were over 3 hours. 

David Hall, the chief executive of Lifeline Ambulance Service, says the new freedom of information figures are disturbing:

The Oireachtas health committee will discuss ambulance services, including response times, with the National Ambulance Service and Dublin Fire Brigade this morning. 

 

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