Suppliers of oxygen tanks to the HSE set to review all canisters following incident at Naas Hospital

The company that supplies the oxygen tanks to around 250 HSE-owned ambulances are set to carry out a full review of all the gas canisters that they supply in Ireland.

A HSE review began last night following the fire in an ambulance at Naas Hospital yesterday afternoon, and it has been suggested that the fire began when an oxygen tank on board the vehicle exploded.

78-year-old Christopher Byrne from Suncroft died during the fire in the ambulance, while two paramedics were also injured in the blaze.

The Director of the National Ambulance Service, Damien McCallion, said that three investigations are underway already, and all ambulance staff have been instructed in how to check oxygen tanks in their vehicles.

"There are three investigations already underway. Initial observations and indeed analysis yesterday from primary officers at the scene indicate that some level of concern to us is in relation to the levels of oxygen in the rear of the ambulance," he said.

"We have taken a number of actions. One is that we have issued a safety notice to all staff, giving some basic instructions and checks that can be undertaken on the oxygen, and secondly we have directed our supplier to immediately commence a review of the oxygen in the ambulances, and that commenced overnight."