New service will reduce ambulance journeys to University Hospital Limerick

A NEW SERVICE which will reduce ambulance journeys to University Hospital Limerick's emergency department has been announced.

The new Mid-West service will see 999 or 112 calls, where appropriate, being directed to members of the community in order to elevate the amount of ambulances bringing patients to the ED at UHL.

This new service, called the Alternative Pre-Hospital Pathway (APP), is part of a collaboration between UL Hospitals Group and the National Ambulance Service (NAS).

The service commenced in Limerick on September 11 and is now operating from 10am to 6pm, Monday to Friday.

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Those responding to 999/112 calls are specialist emergency doctors and NAS personnel within local communities, who are equipped with responding to low-acuity ambulance calls.

The APP team responds in a NAS vehicle to appropriate calls within a 45-minute radius of the ambulance centre in Limerick city.

Niall Murray, General Manager of Area Operations, NAS said: “Increasing demand for emergency care and an ageing population is necessitating a re-design of traditional models of emergency care delivery and the Alternative Pre-Hospital Pathway Team is one such response.”

Where the APP team is the nearest available resource, they may also be dispatched to care for or assist pre-hospital colleagues in caring for critically unwell patients in the community.