Call for Waterford fire service to respond to cardiac emergencies

The fire brigade should respond to heart attack emergencies in Waterford until a 24/7 cardiac care facility is developed.

A motion before the Regional Health Forum will tomorrow call for members of the full-time Waterford fire service to respond to cardiac arrest emergencies outside normal working hours.

Jody Power, a Green Party councillor on Waterford City & County Council, is seeking support from other members of the Regional Health Forum to implement the measure which, he said, is crucial for the 520,000 people of the south-east.

In his motion, he said, "Currently, there is a sporadic Cardiac Care facility at University Hospital Waterford due to the on-going maintenance programme now underway.

“The proposed 12-hour Cardiac Care facility is currently in a planning stage and not due on stream until Q1 2021. The required 24/7 Cardiac Care unit, much sought after and necessary, is but an unattainable aspiration at this stage."

He said that urgent attention should be given to the "recommendation to allow the full-time Waterford Fire Service respond to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest emergencies exclusively."

“The required training and resources are at hand - all that’s required is the leadership for its attainment," he added.

He has also called on the South/South West Hospital Group to employ more staff at University Hospital Waterford.

"Officially there are over 200 vacancies at University Hospital Waterford (UHW),” he said.

"In reality, the situation is much more stark. UHW is the most under-staffed large hospital in the country according to HSE figures."

He called for the establishment of a working group to "correct the glaring imbalance in medical care" in the south-east.

Meanwhile, an emergency motion is also to be raised at the meeting in connection with the sexual assault of the 17-year-old patient at CUH in 2018.

Member Ted Tynan wants Cork University Hospital chiefs to explain what they have done to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

Mr Tynan said that so far, the response from the hospital has been “entirely unsatisfactory”.

The Cork City councillor said, "People need to know that their daughters are safe at this hospital."