New State-funded air ambulance service for Limerick comes into operation

THE NATIONAL Ambulance Service (NAS) has officially signed contracts to roll out a fully-funded air ambulance service for Limerick and the wider south west region.

The NAS, which is part of the HSE, has confirmed it has reached agreement with Gulf Med Aviation, which is based in Malta, for the delivery of a dedicated helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) to be situated in the South West.

The new service will become operational from this Saturday, February 11 when it takes over from the current provider, Irish Community Air Ambulance.

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Irish Community Air Ambulance, which has led the service for a number of years, says it will facilitate a smooth transition to Gulf Med Aviation and will remain involved until the end of February.

This awarding of the new contract follows a competitive tender process which was carried out in 2022 and Gulf Med Aviation will operate the HEMS service from a base at Rathcoole in North Cork.

The Irish Community Air Ambulance charity has been providing the helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) since 2019 and has been tasked to attend more than 1,500 serious incidents and emergencies.

The charity was originally established in 2009 as Irish Community Rapid Response and has now rebranded and changed its name to Critical.

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CEO of Critical Micheál Sheridan said: “We have consistently shown how vital the service is, so much so that it is now set to be fully funded by the state.

“We would like to thank all of those who helped keep HeliMed92 flying for the past three years and the HSE for its support over the last 10 months.

"We will now focus our efforts on our ground-based volunteer Emergency Medical Response initiative and bring critical and advanced levels of care to more communities across Ireland, both rural and urban."