Air ambulance has carried out 652 time critical missions since its launch two years ago – Feighan

Fine Gael TD for Roscommon/South Leitrim, Frank Feighan, has been informed by the Department of Health that the pilot air ambulance service, formally known as the Emergency Aeromedical Service (EAS), has carried out 652 time critical missions since its launch in the summer of 2012.

“This recent EAS mission data, recorded up to May 2014, equates to one life-saving task a week since its launch in Custume Barracks two years ago. Significantly, almost half of the missions completed (316) have been for STEMIs, a type of serious heart attack where a coronary artery is completely blocked. Forty of the missions also involved emergency incidents involving children.

“The gold standard treatment for STEM is access to a 24 hour specialist centre such as Galway within 90 minutes of diagnosis, so that treatment to unblock the artery can begin. Usually, the air ambulance flight times to these specialist centres takes little more than twenty minutes to complete.

“These latest figures represent clear evidence that the EAS is playing a key role in providing critical air support options in response to major emergencies in the catchment area of small hospitals such as Roscommon Hospital. Indeed, Roscommon Hospital itself is being used as a regular landing base for the helicopter.

“I also understand that the EAS working group looking at the establishment of a permanent operation has more or less finished its deliberations. The group’s report, containing a series of proposals, will go to the Health Minister in the next few weeks.

“Since the launch of the EAS, the service has operated 7 days a week, responding quickly to emergencies where patients needing rapid access to acute services in larger hospitals will be transported quickly to receive the appropriate medical care.

“It is abundantly clear that this service must continue given that it has now become a key component in the region’s emergency response infrastructure.”

ENDS