CUH helicopter pad - Emergency plan missing vital link

The lack of forward planning apparent in the loss of a helicopter pad at Cork University Hospital is perplexing to say the least.

As the hospital’s new A&E unit now stands on the site where helicopters once landed, the regional emergency plan is without a vital component.

If, for example, a marine emergency occurred today, the air-sea rescue helicopter would be forced to land at Cork Airport from where injured seamen would be transferred by road to hospital.