Ambulance crews 'slowed to a crawl' on poor Cork roads

Ambulance crews have warned that county roads in Cork are in such a bad condition that it is taking longer to transport seriously ill patients to hospital.

Roads are so poor in some areas that ambulance crews have to “slow to a crawl” to transport patients, particularly if they have a suspected spinal injury, a meeting of Cork County Council was told yesterday.

Standing orders were suspended at a meeting in County Hall after Independent councillor John Paul O’Shea raised the issue. He said rural roads throughout the county had rapidly deteriorated in recent weeks because “the weather had gone from extreme rain to extreme cold”.