The length wait times for an ambulance in 2023 across Cavan and Monaghan has been described as a "grave concern" by one local councillor. Northern Sound FM revealed last week that 211 emergency call outs across both counties last year exceeded one hour before an ambulance attended the call out. According to figures obtained rom a freedom of information request, it took three hours and 11minutes for an ambulance to arrive at a life-threatening emergency in Co Cavan. Two hours, 43 minutes was the timeframe for an ambulance to respond to an emergency call in County Monaghan.
Cllr Paudge Connolly said the figures mean that on average 4 people a week locally waited over a hour for paramedics to arrive. He says this is thoroughly a systems failure adding that these waits are causing undue distress on people living across this region. The Monaghan Councillor said there are a few core issues that need to be addressed in order to rectify the current situation.
Cllr Connolly highlighted again as previously on Northern Sound that there are some people that are using the service as a personal taxi. "I've highlighted the abuse of ambulances in the past," Paudge Connolly told Northern Sound, "There's a list of those there: there's a habit where some people think how can I get to the hospital, I'm suffering from a dose of the cold or pain in my tummy, so OK I'll ring an ambulance using it as a personal taxi. The other, more cynical people would say 'I'll ring an ambulance here so when I get to A & E in the hospital I'll get to skip the queue'.
"Those are the areas that must be addressed," Cllr Connolly continued, "I think when someone rings an ambulance there has to be a better triage system [to determine] whether they actually need or deserve an ambulance. Like ambulances are there for life-threatening emergency situations, not a personal taxi situation."
