Fire crew called for stricken ambulance

An ambulance carrying a patient and two paramedics broke down on a dual carriage in Co Cork yesterday evening with smoke and steam billowing from its engine.

The incident happened at around 6.35pm on the N25 Cork-Midleton dual carriageway near the turn off for Little Island.

“The paramedics on board reacted quickly and no one was hurt,” a HSE spokeswoman said.

“The patient on board was quickly transferred to another ambulance.”

Because of the risk of fire, the fire brigade had to be called. The spokeswoman said the vehicle will now be examined to determine the cause of the engine trouble.

Sources have speculated the fire may have broken out in the turbo of the engine.

This is the second mishap involving a HSE ambulance this week.

Two paramedics were treated for minor injuries at Waterford Regional on Wednesday after an ambulance flipped onto its side. There was no patient onboard at the time and no other vehicle was involved.

There have also been recent controversies over delays in ambulances arriving to patients and in one case failure to turn up at all.

In one of those incidents, the HSE is investigating why an ambulance did not arrive to help a critically ill toddler who died last month. Vakaris Martinaitis died from injuries sustained after he fell from an upstairs window at his parents’ home in the Castleredmond estate in Midleton on May 7.

The National Ambulance Service has said a vehicle was dispatched but was stood down.