Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Sometimes, it is not possible to resolve every issue. In my personal experience and that of a close family member, however, the ambulance or pre-hospital care was fascinating and incredible. The Senator is right about staff ensuring that people are stabilised by the time they reach hospital instead of facing into the awful dash that is usually the case following a serious incident.

I am pleased to be able to outline to the House current developments in pre-hospital emergency care services in the midlands and nationally. The NAS is working to ensure the provision of high-quality and timely pre-hospital emergency care services, using all available resources as effectively and efficiently as possible.

As with any complex modern health service, development and modernisation form an ongoing process as technology and clinical standards change. A significant and ongoing reform programme has been under way in recent years. Funding of €7.2 million has been provided this year to ensure that response times are maintained, including €2 million to recruit and train extra staff and expand the community first responder scheme, which trains local volunteer groups to respond to cardiac emergencies. Last year saw the opening of the national emergency operations centre, NEOC, in Tallaght and the establishment of a single national control system. This project is delivering improved technology to improve response times. Developments such as national digital radio, national computer-aided dispatch, mobile data and electronic patient care reporting will allow the NAS to deploy resources more effectively and efficiently.

The emergency aeromedical support service, EAS, was permanently established in 2015. It ensures that seriously ill or injured people in remote areas have timely access to appropriate clinical care. While targeted mainly in the west where road networks may not allow for timely transport to hospital, the EAS can be tasked anywhere in the State. More than 1,200 EAS missions have been completed since June 2012. The intermediate care service, ICS, which was set up to provide transfer for non-emergency patients between hospitals, allows emergency vehicles to focus on emergency calls. In October 2015, 88% of the inter-hospital transfers previously carried out by ambulances were handled by the ICS.

It is important to note that the model of service delivery for our ambulance service has changed. It is no longer considered appropriate for an ambulance station to provide services only to its own area. For this reason, the ambulance service is moving to dynamic deployment, whereby all resources in a region are deployed across that region as a single fleet in response to demand. This means that, in the midlands, services are provided across the region from Tullamore to Edenderry, Longford, Mullingar, Athlone, Birr and Portlaoise. Services in the region have been enhanced with additional staff based at Edenderry ambulance station in order to provide additional cover. The introduction of a rapid response vehicle in Tullamore further augments services. New rostering arrangements for the region have been agreed between the NAS and trade unions and will lead to greater efficiencies in the service.

The Senator can rest assured that the Government intends to drive further improvements in pre-hospital emergency care that will benefit the people of the midlands and the rest of the country. From personal experience, I know those involved to be an incredible group of people who deserve our support. I hope that, with our finances improving, we will be able to invest in the service further.