Wexford ambulance service crisis
Deputy Mick Wallace raises the death of a Wexford man after an allegedly inadequately equipped ambulance and seeks immediate action; the Taoiseach advises obtaining reports from the HSE and ambulance control centre.
A few weeks ago, I raised the matter of the promised health reform Bill which is to put in place new structures for the health service. We have a serious crisis in regard to the ambulance service in Wexford. Two weeks ago, a 50 year old man died of a heart attack. The ambulance that came to the scene had no defibrillator and no cardiac tablets and the back-up ambulance did not arrive. The man died but he possibly would have survived if the situation were different. While we are waiting for the new Bill, can we do something to alleviate the problem in regard to the ambulance service in Wexford. Last Sunday, an ambulance took three hours to off-load its patient.
Comment on this
Deputy Wallace should get a report from the HSE and the ambulance control centre in respect of the situation in Wexford. We have had similar instances in other parts of the country. I understand the Minister for Health, Deputy Varadkar, addressed this question in the Seanad this week.