Community-funded air ambulance insists service won't be affected despite State service facing groundings

The team behind Ireland’s first community-funded air ambulance have insisted that their life-saving service won’t be affected as it provides back-up for the state-funded helicopter emergency medical (HEMS) service which is facing groundings over staffing shortages.

The assurance came ahead of a key fundraiser for the Irish Community Rapid Response (ICRR) charity in North Cork this weekend as new figures show its HEMS service has flown almost 190-missions since its launch in July.