Campaign for Ireland's first flying health service is in the works

A campaign for Ireland’s first flying doctor service is under way for Munster and south Leinster where a signature red helicopter is touching down on islands, peninsulas, and renowned football stadiums from Enniscorthy to Killarney to Cape Clear.

Fri, 27 Jan, 2017 - 00:00

Anne Lucey

The community-funded service will be based on the Welsh air ambulance service which is also community funded, is in its 15th year and operates four helicopters with doctors on board.

Spokeswoman for the Irish Community Air Ambulance organisation, Ann Kelly, said in a region where there are few motorways and the geography is challenging, it can take hours for an ambulance to get to an incident.

“The terrain in Wales is similar to what we could be covering in Munster and South Leinster and we are very much looking to the Welsh model. It too is completely community funded and serves 3m people.”

The bright red helicopter, which it is hoped will be up based at Cork Airport this summer, touched down at the renowned Fitzgerald’s GAA Stadium in Kerry for a demonstration on the response to a serious sports injury yesterday morning.

Then it was off to Dingle — the team has already visited Ennis, Enniscorthy, Thurles, Limerick, Waterford, Wexford, and Enniscorthy. Tomorrow it is off to Bantry and Cape Clear and then it will touch down at Nemo Rangers pitch in Cork City.

Ann was involved in a serious car accident in West Cork in 2010 and there was no ambulance available in the county or the city: “It took an hour and a half for an ambulance to arrive — a helicopter could have been there within minutes.”

Ann said she owed her life to a volunteer doctor who was working with Irish Community Rapid Response in Bandon and who was with her within minutes.

The new service will be a mobile intensive care unit. Having a service where a doctor can be there within minutes is very often the difference between life and death. Some €1m must be raised and contributors can text FLIGHT to 50300 to donate €4. The service, which will also transfer patients between hospitals, will cost €2m a year.