LIMERICK ambulances face being stood down, leaving gaps in the life-saving service, due to under staffing and what has been described as a “lack of forward planning”.
Following on claims that there was no trained paramedic to go out to calls with an intern on the night that Leaving Cert students hit the city to celebrate their results, SIPTU ambulance service representative, Ted Kenny confirmed to the Limerick Post that the service is understaffed by up to seven people in a compliment of almost 30 paramedics.
“With that kind of shortage, it is very difficult to get cover if a paramedic calls in sick. If there are not two paramedics, one to stay with the patient and one to drive, then that ambulance has to be stood down,” he explained.
Mr Kenny warned that the situation is “an accident waiting to happen. It’s only a matter of time before something serious happens and there won’t be an ambulance to cover. It will be two years before this can be rectified because there is a lack of forward planning to recruit and train people to replace those retiring or leaving”.
In a press statement, the National Ambulance Service said that Limerick city was operating at its normal levels last Wednesday night and denied that two intern paramedics worked together that night.
It added that an Intern paramedic was working alongside another paramedic in an emergency ambulance in the city and that they would have been supported by other crews in the area if the need arose.
