Rapid-response medical service now in West Limerick

A NEW rapid response vehicle for medical emergencies has come on stream to serve the West Limerick and North Kerry area.

The state-of-the-art vehicle was launched this week in Listowel where it will be based and from where it will serve Newcastle West, Abbeyfeale, Foynes, Glin and Athea as well as Listowel, Tarbert, Ballybunion and Castleisland.

The service is being coordinated by Irish Community Rapid Response (ICRR) and involves volunteer doctors, working alongside frontline HSE emergency services, to respond in time to life-threatening emergencies.

“All the evidence tells us that having the right treatment in the right place as soon as possible is the key to saving lives in cardiac arrest patients.

“By equipping volunteer doctors and responders with the tools to react quickly within their own communities, they have the best possible chance of getting to patients within the most crucial window of opportunity for survival,” Dr Andrei  Brovchin, who is leading the volunteer service, said at the launch.

The new service was welcomed by Athea GP Dr Kieran Murphy who said it would help make things safer for people in the area. Time is critical for someone with cardiac arrest, he explained. The national  target response time for ambulances is to have someone on the scene in eight minutes, he said. “In somewhere like Athea that is not realistic.”

So Community Responders are the first line of defence while the ICCR service will be a very valuable second line.

The chief executive of Irish Community Rapid Response, John Kearney also welcomed the newest addition to the rapid-response fleet, which now numbers ten nationwide.  

“This is very positive for families and communities in North Kerry and West Limerick,” he said.

But he appealed to communities for continued support.

“It costs €30,000 per year to fund this service and we are calling on the people of Kerry and Limerick to help us save lives by raising vital funds to keep this service operating year on year,” he said.  

Since 2008, Community Rapid Response  has developed a network of over 200 volunteer doctors throughout Ireland who can be called on to deliver critical medical interventions which prevent serious injury or death.

This number is set to rise to 250 volunteer doctors this year.

The organisation is also working with the HSE National Ambulance Service (NAS) and the Department of Health to deliver Ireland’s first community Air Ambulance service and has built a dedicated  Air Ambulance base in Millstreet.

The helicopter is in situ and staff training is completed.

The service is awaiting final approval by the HSE but it  is hoped that the service will begin operating very shortly.

To contact ICCR or for more information go to www.icrr.ie