80 ambulance staff to withdraw from on-call service after LRC talks fail

AS eighty ambulance staff in the midlands gear up to withdraw from on-call service on Monday, concern is growing about the demands being made on emergency personnel in the south east.

Some are working up to 72-hour weekends, sparking fears about their safety. Lives could be put at risk unless staff levels are boosted, rosters

examined and a safety audit of the service in Wexford takes place, according to local councillor Padge Reck.

“On Friday mornings, ambulance drivers in Enniscorthy, New Ross and Gorey begin work at 8am and don’t finish until 7pm. They are then on call until 8am the following morning.

“They work Saturdays from 8am and are on call for the rest of the weekend. That’s a 72-hour stint. They are only human beings and judging about some of the incidents we hear about outside discos etc, they are called out and they don’t get sleep.”

The real danger is when such personnel are put under pressure and have to drive to Dublin at high speed.

“If the driver is not fully fit and not fully alert, he is a danger to himself and other staff and to patients and

other road users.” Ambulance personnel realise the danger they are putting themselves and others in. And while Wexford town is well covered, staff in other towns in the region find the long hours are putting them under severe stress.

“The whole thing is down to not having enough staff. It would not matter what job you are in. Nobody can work 72 consecutive hours and deliver the service demanded. It is a very important service. Safety recommendations have been made in the past but they have not been implemented.”

Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) from five ambulance stations in the Midland Health Board area will withdraw from their on-call service starting on Monday, following failure to reach agreement at a Labour Relations Commission hearing.

They want the present “out-of-date” on-call arrangements abolished. The five stations affected are: Portlaoise, Tullamore, Athlone, Longford and Mullingar. SIPTU Mullingar branch secretary Séamus McNamee said the EMTs operate an on-call system for 2 an hour each night at the region’s five ambulance stations.

The EMTs believe that patients would be better served if the on-call system was withdrawn and replaced by a second on-duty ambulance at each station.

But the Midlands Health Board says such changes would cost the board more than €1.5 million.