Emergency services require more coordinated protocols

The dysfunctional manner in which the emergency services across the county are dispatched is putting lives in jeopardy – according to the fire fighters themselves. And now two Government departments are being asked to investigate how the emergency services operate – particularly in relation to serious road traffic incidents. According to a spokesman for the County Galway Retained Fire Fighters, that in emergency situations, the ambulance crew are first to be alerted and then the fire service is summoned if required. They make the argument that both should be on the scene at the same time as ‘every second counts in the event of a serious collision’. Now, Deputy Ciaran Cannon is asking both the Departments of Health and Justice to outline the existing protocols. He has been in touch with Galway County Council about the lack of co-ordination between the ambulance and fire services – but he was angry that he hadn’t received any response. "There is absolute clarity needed on the official protocols that are in place for responding to emergency calls across County Galway,” he said. “If a 999 call is received by the dispatch team making them aware of someone who is experiencing a cardiac arrest or has been involved in a serious road traffic accident, the team should be able to immediately arrange for the nearest emergency services to attend at the scene. “It's my understanding that this may not be the case and that vital minutes are being lost due to protocols that seem more intent on saving money rather than saving lives. “All of our retained fire fighters based in our county towns have received specialist training as advanced cardiac first responders in addition to their fire and road traffic accident training,” the Galway East TD explained. Deputy Cannon said that, in the event of someone experiencing a cardiac arrest, local firefighters are often the closest emergency service available – but there seems to be a reluctance on the part of the Council in dispatching them. He added that it was often the case that the ambulance services were deployed further away than the local fire services and said that he wants the emergency protocols to be reassessed. A statement issued to the Connacht Tribune by the County Galway Retained Fire Fighters says that vital minutes are lost by the failure to alert the local fire service in the event of an emergency call. “If a call is made to 999 regarding somebody having a cardiac arrest, then the dispatch team will arrange for the ambulance, but if the dispatch know that it will be a long time before the ambulance gets to the scene, then they should contact the local fire service as they could be with that person within minutes and perform the necessary live-saving procedures,” it said. “This is not happening at the moment, and we are aware of a few cases even in the last while where we were not called to a cardiac arrest and where the ambulance took over 40 minutes to arrive and in that time the person had died. “Every second counts when it comes to a cardiac arrest especially with regard to road traffic accidents. Often the ambulance gets alerted first and when they arrive at the scene, they often find that they need the fire service to cut the person out of the car. “If the dispatch alerted both ambulance and local fire service at the same time, then one could help the other. Instead, valuable time is being wasted and lives are being lost due to a dysfunctional system.”