Charity records 45% increase in medical emergency calls

David Tighe, chief executive of the emergency medical response charity Critical.

An emergency response charity supporting HSE ambulances saw a 45% increase in calls last year, with Waterford and Donegal recording the most calls.

Doctors and community first responders with the charity, Critical, were called to a range of emergencies including chest pain, stroke, cardiac and respiratory arrest, falls and road accidents.

The Donegal branch of the charity had the highest number of calls at 230, followed by Waterford with 187, Cork with 159, and Tipperary with 119 calls.

Overall, the charity responded to 1,308 incidents, after 999 emergency calls were made. This was a jump from 900 in 2023.

Critical now operates in 25 counties. 

New units were set up last year, including Carrick-on-Suir in Tipperary and Blackwater in north Cork and more volunteer groups are planned for this year. 

'An invaluable service'

Chief executive David Tighe said the charity helps empower communities to save lives.

“Critical is providing an invaluable service by working with the National Ambulance Service to ensure that anyone who is experiencing chest pain, stroke or cardiac arrest will be seen to within as quick a time as possible,” he said.

He said volunteers living locally find “an added sense of pride in knowing that they made a difference in the lives of people in their local community”.

Critical also supports the ambulance service's ‘staff off-duty response scheme’. 

This scheme has been in operation for almost 20 years and sees off-duty paramedics and other staff respond to local emergencies.

The charity funds and equips staff with an emergency backpack containing a defibrillator, a resuscitation kit and a medical diagnostic kit.

Ger O’Dea, Community Engagement Manager with NAS previously welcomed this move. 

“The ambulance service will always dispatch the nearest and most appropriate resource to an emergency call," he said. 

"But given the geographical nature of Ireland with factors such as our road networks, traffic and journey times we cannot get to every patient as timely as we would like."