Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the excellent contribution our National Ambulance Service, NAS, teams make in delivering emergency care right across the country.

Helicopter emergency medical services, HEMS, are consultant led and paramedic-delivered in Ireland. The NAS provides two dedicated HEMS aircraft, including one aircraft operated in conjunction with the Irish Air Corps. Also, the Irish Coast Guard provides aeromedical support to the HSE in addition to the services already mentioned. HEMS provide fast-access, lifesaving pre-hospital emergency care interventions. Currently, HEMS services are crewed by highly trained and qualified advanced paramedics. The HSE is aware that a variety of crewing models are used around the world depending on geography, distance travelled and other factors. The NAS is proceeding with a previously planned feasibility study to look at the suitability of physician crewing on NAS HEMS aircraft.

A number of emergency department consultants, some of whom have returned from the UK and are working in Ireland, are talking to many politicians - I know this because they are all talking to me - and trying to bring about a change to how this is done. We are not committing to any changes at this point because we are committing to a review. Maybe they are right and maybe they are not. Maybe they are partly right in that there is an augmented model we need to use. We are aware of it. I have had conversations with quite a number of members. These consultants are very politically active and are making a strong case. It is a model they have seen work very successfully in the UK and maybe further afield and they believe we should bring it in here. We are taking their expertise and submissions very seriously and are reviewing the model to see if it is one we should move towards.

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