Jerry Cowley (Mayo, Independent)

It is not just a question of availability but having the right equipment to do the job. People have been become hypothermic while waiting for intensive care medical treatment that helicopter emergency medical services would have but the Air Corps and search and rescue units do not have. I worked on Clare Island and Inishturk and I can vouch for the fact that while the service is welcome, it is not dedicated and its availability and the equipment it carries depends on the other jobs it must do. The helicopter emergency medical service would be a flying intensive care unit that would bring definitive medical treatment to people on the islands.

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