Deer and a flock of pigeons involved in some of the 280 crashes with ambulances in two years

A spokeswoman for the National Ambulance Service said in 2024 they had received around 430,000 emergency calls with their response vehicles travelling in excess of 24 million kilometres. File picture: Denis Minihane

Ambulances were damaged by a masked person on a scrambler, a flock of racing pigeons, and a rampaging deer that appeared from nowhere near a racecourse.

A newly released log of emergency vehicle incidents from 2023 and 2024 reveals 280 reported crashes and near-misses. These included dozens of close calls where the wing mirrors of vehicles were damaged or knocked off and other cases where ambulances were struck by hit-and-run drivers.

In some incidents, ambulance crews could not stop because they were responding to urgent calls or transporting seriously ill patients.

A note of one said: “Transporting patient to Cath Lab, University Hospital Waterford. While navigating through quay in Waterford, I struck the back of Bus Éireann bus with my passenger mirror. No damage to mirror or obvious damage to bus. No one was injured. I didn’t stop as patient was seriously [ill].” 

Among the most bizarre cases was an incident from April 2023 when an ambulance collided with a large flock of pigeons. The National Ambulance Service log said the birds had just been released from a trailer on the ramp of a motorway.

It was not the only animal-related encounter as there were multiple accidents involving deer on roads around Ireland.

In one incident in Mayo last autumn, an emergency vehicle was carrying a patient to hospital from Ballinrobe. The ambulance was travelling around 90km/hr when a deer jumped out in front of them near the town racecourse.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

In another accident, a “young deer sprung out” from the side of the road and dashed across the path of the ambulance. An account of the incident from the driver said: “[I] stopped and checked ambulance and checked for deer which was [nowhere to be seen].” 

There was also an incident involving a “a masked driver on [a] scrambler” weaving through traffic at high speed. The incident report said the unidentified individual hit the ambulance and drove off without stopping.

In another odd event, a flying object – possibly debris from another vehicle – smashed into the front of an emergency vehicle.

A spokeswoman for the National Ambulance Service said in 2024 they had received around 430,000 emergency calls with their response vehicles travelling in excess of 24 million kilometres. They said a very small number of calls resulted in some form of vehicle damage, with most of the incidents classed as “negligible.”