Mayor calls for restoration of second emergency ambulance

A call for the restoration of a second emergency ambulance to a major tourist town — where the population can double or treble in high season — was made yesterday.

The National Ambulance Service is set to consider providing extra resources to Killarney during peak tourist times, but the town’s mayor, Paddy Courtney, said there should be what he described as a full ambulance service all year-round.

“Visitors now come to Killarney at all times of the year and there’s some event on most weekends that draws big crowds,’’ he said.

Under the restructured service in south Kerry, the towns of Killarney, Kenmare, and Caherciveen each have an ambulance.

Mr Courtney, however, said the Killarney ambulance had to serve a wide area and he was concerned about an emergency happening in the town that would need an immediate ambulance response.

“Here we are promoting tourism in Killarney and south Kerry all over the world, but if something serious happens and no ambulance was available, it would be detrimental to the whole area and would damage its reputation,’’ he said.

“And, of course, the people who live here permanently are also entitled to a full ambulance service, which they are paying for through their taxes.’’

At the same time, he was concerned about an apparent level of public apathy on the issue, pointing out that public meetings he had called on the issue recently had been poorly attended.

Meanwhile, Independent TD Michael Healy-Rae said the ambulance service had agreed to review changes to the system in south Kerry within six months.

The restructured service will come into effect in the coming weeks.

The practice of on-call will be phased out and the numbers of advanced paramedics in the region will increase.

Three full-time ambulances will be available on a 24-hour basis, as well as additional emergency vehicles covering Killarney, Kenmare and Caherciveen.

“The National Ambulance Service operations manager has confirmed to him that a formal review of the new system will take place in four to six months with all interested parties including service users,’’ the TD said.