HEMS in Ireland

[EC24]

The National Ambulance Service and the Air Corps are about to embark on a service level agreement to provide a HEMS service.
- the Air Corps have for many years provided an inter-hospital transfer service when required, however, in the future they will be available for primary 999 work.

Most likely using an EC135, based in an army barracks in Athlone, during daylight hours 7 days/week.
Single pilot, Air Corps crewman (who is an EMT) and a Health Service Advanced Paramedic will crew it.
The service will be available to several Ambulance control centres covering the midlands and west of Ireland.

Should be a press release soon, it is hoped to be up and running in May.
The driving force behind it has largely been the downgrading of some hospitals in the midlands. The political will appears to be there now, hence the urgency to get "off the ground". :cool:

[bolkow]

In my opinion they need around three EC135s to really do this task, based on the set up in Wales. If there was a machine for each of the three provinces in the South of Ireland that would cover it I imagine just about right? Trying it with one helicopter that does not know which part of the country the enxt shout is coming from would in my opinion make a lot of the flying time transit flying rather than being timely and productive?

[corsair]

It's not a HEMS service. It's the usual Irish compromise. It will be a patient transfer service. Supposed to be all Ireland but that's impossible because it's based in an army barracks in the middle of Ireland. It's a purely a half baked compromise, let's pretend we're doing something, no cost exercise in window dressing.

Worse still, it's run by the military whose record is far from exemplerary. There is a big danger that the single pilot will be under pressure to fly into dangerous situations.

It's an accident waiting to happen.

[EC24]

They don't intend covering the entire country with the one aircraft, not sure what their op area will be or where they'll draw the line.
I agree 3 would go a long way to covering most areas.:D

[corsair]

They are intending to cover the entire country with the one aircraft. Or pretending to cover the entire country with one aircraft. The Air Corps don't even have three EC135s. They have two. It's a farce. They don't even have the crews at this point.

It's a figleaf of a service.

It's a classic example of the current Irish government's incompetance.

The only good thing about it is that it will highlight exactly what's wrong with the idea. Perhaps it will take the deaths of the crew of a helicopter to wake people up. Not the first time that happened.

[bolkow]

I based three on the set up here in Wales, roughly comparable areas to cover though I think Ireland is bigger. At present covered here by two ec 135T.2+ aircraft and one bolkow they are planning to replace with a third 135. I can tell you the aircraft are pretty busy. I did not like to say it, but also feel the military in Ireland is pretty dismal, and remeber when they did SAR they did not have crew to put a dauphine out one year for somebody missing in the sea off howth, then got upset and posessive when the contracts went out to private companies to tender. In my opinion they were better when they had the alouettes, but became complacent when all the new kit arrived. What the heck do they use thier fleet of 139's and 135's for anyway?

[Davey Emcee]

three provinces in the South of Ireland that would cover it I imagine just
Don't understand this bit of the post. What are the three provinces of the South of Ireland?

[Davey Emcee]

Not political, just a fiendly "pop". ok?

[Just a spotter]

Aren't the two Garda Air Support Unit (GASU) EC-135's flown by a single Air Corps pilot with Garda 'observers' on board with one available 24/7?

If so, what's the difference between that and operating the No.3 Wing EC-135's in a similar manner?

JAS