Life-threatening call took three hours and 16 mins to respond to in Leitrim

Cllr Felim Gurn said there has been a lot of stress in communities in Ireland with regard to International Protection applicants being located in communities and there is regularly a lack of infrastructure and stretched resources in terms of health care, schools and community facilities, and a lack of consultation with community groups on this issue. 

He called on the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to engage in much greater detail on this issue with the local communities involved, so that successful soluti

There are not enough available ambulances in Leitrim was the view of Cllr Brendan Barry at the latest council meeting. 
He requested that Leitrim County Council call on the HSE and the National Ambulance Service to provide additional ambulance and crews in County Leitrim.  
Cllr Barry said that under HSE targets, an ambulance should arrive at the scene within 19 minutes where there is a life-threatening heart or respiratory arrest. 
The Sinn Fein councillor asked for information to be provided on the percentage of life-threatening calls that were attended to within 19 minutes and asked what was the longest time it took for an ambulance to arrive on the scene within the county for a life-threatening call.
He said that in 2023, in the first five months, 1,435 cases of life threatening calls took over an hour to be responded to and in 103 of those cases, the timeframe was between two and three hours. 
He said, "The worst case in the country, regarding a response to a life-threatening call, was three hours and 16 mins and that was in Leitrim. Leitrim has appeared on this data several years in a row where there were extremely long waits for people in critical cases."

He continued that another issue is Leitrim's ambulance service "is being pulled away"  to other areas. 
"There has to be extra crews in this area so that there is a higher density of crews and ambulances available to respond to emergency calls. Many times they are way over in Castlebar or even Galway, high population areas, and we're being left without a service. 
"I think the north west is a black spot and one of the worst hit areas in the country so more needs to be done."

Cllr Des Guckian said that in his view, one issue was "ambulances queuing up outside Sligo Hospital" adding "I think the biggest thing that has to happen is there needs to be more bed capacity in Sligo Hospital."

Cllr Mary Bohan seconded the motion.

ons and satisfactory infrastructure and resources can be delivered to meet the needs of the community.

Cllr Gurn said: "There's misguided information and I think that's a lot of the problem going on here."

Cllr Gurn said that he has had dealings with many Ukrainians who've come to the county and said many of them are highly qualified professionals but can't work in Ireland "as they're outside Europe."

He said he felt that the lack of communication and lack of infrastructure in many of the towns and villages where they are being housed, were the key issues. 

He said there needs to be joint thinking between councils, "that we actually know, as elected representatives, what's going on?" 

Cllr Padraig Fallon had a similar motion at the meeting asking for extra support to make available Government Departments to help accommodate and integrate those seeking International Protection refuge in County Leitrim.

He said: "There is a greater need for support to be made available to communities where such individuals or families are located."

He said he believed that direct provision is "degrading" and "not a nice place to be" and said that in his view, "the system around accommodating and processing asylum seekers is broken". 
He said that the housing crisis "affects almost every family in this country and intense competition for stretched health services and school places." 

He said the communication is an issue and "we've seen that in north Leitrim" and "misinformation is then an issue because there is a lack of information". 

He said more funds need to be made available in Leitrim from the Communities Integration Fund. 

Full story in next week's Leitrim Observer...