Senator Robbie Gallagher raised ambulance delays and emergency response times across Cavan and Monaghan in the Seanad recently. His concerns come on the back of information released to Northern Sound last month which indicated that it took 5 hours and 14 minutes for an ambulance to arrive to an emergency call in Monaghan last year and 4 hours and 59 minutes in Cavan.
The Monaghan Senator told the Seanad that people are becoming critical ill and struggling to survive in an emergency situation because of the delays. Senator Gallagher says that Minister Peter Burke - who addressed his concerns - indicated that the National Ambulance Service is currently providing additional resources in the north east.
He highlighted how 12 new service development paramedic posts became part of the roster system in Cavan and Monaghan at the end of 2022 and a further 10 new posts will be filled this year. "It took five hours and 14 minutes for an ambulance to arrive to the location of an emergency call in Monaghan last year. This wait time for an ambulance is not the worst.
"It represents the 15th longest wait in the country during 2022. The longest wait in Cavan was for four hours and 59 minutes. A total of 155 people waited more than an hour for an ambulance in Cavan and Monaghan during 2022.
"The HSE states that it aims to respond to life-threatening heart and respiratory calls within 19 minutes in 80% of cases. Other life-threatening emergencies should be responded to within the same timeframe in 50% of cases. However, according to a recent freedom of information request, the longest wait was seven hours and ten minutes in Waterford. A total of 233 response times were more than three hours," added Senator Gallagher.
