""It's absolutely scandalous," said Cllr Baily at a council meeting this week, "it really makes my blood boil.""
"She said her recent experience with the service was "phenomenal" as paramedics arrived within 16 minutes of her call to help her unwell grandmother. They were "absolutely fantastic", she added, when they arrived back to report her grandmother's status in hospital."
"However, staff reported widespread abuse of the system, highlighting the regular occurrence of people using ambulances as a "taxi service". They alleged people often ring ambulances at night if they can't get a taxi and will be transported to hospital, only to immediately leave and walk the rest of the way home."
Ambulances are being used for non-emergency transport, including minor injuries and as a taxi service, removing vehicles from genuine emergency availability. Paramedics sometimes arrive within 16 minutes for urgent calls and later update hospital status. Staff report frequent misuse at night when people call ambulances because taxis are unavailable, then leave hospitals immediately. Removing an ambulance from circulation can waste about 40 minutes, delaying other responses and risking lives. Knowingly calling an ambulance without good reason is a criminal offence with possible fines or jail, but prosecutions are rare. Over 250 hoax 999 calls occurred in the first ten months of 2024, and concerns over response times in Cork and Kerry have been raised alongside calls for stronger enforcement and protective measures to preserve ambulance availability.
Read at Irish Independent
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]