Prioritise vaccination of West Cork's Garda first responders, says GRA

With more than 190 trained first responders, the Cork West Garda Division is believed to have the highest number of first responders of any division in the country.

GRA central executive member for West Cork, Jason Collins, said they've more than 190 trained first responders in their ranks and therefore are attending more incidents than gardaí normally would. File photo

The large number of fully-trained first responders in the ranks of gardaí in the West Cork division has led to calls by the Garda Representative Association (GRA) to have them prioritised for Covid-19 vaccinations.

The Cork West Garda Division is believed to have the highest number of first responders of any division in the country. This is mainly thanks to training provided by Dr Jason van der Velde, a pre-hospital emergency medicine and critical care doctor at CUH, and chief fire officer Ronan Archibald.