Experts write letter urging service to be physician-led
ambulance in flight Air DOCTORS from around the world have written an open letter to highlight their concerns about Ireland’s first community air ambulance.
Twenty-two Helicopter Emergency Medical Service experts from the US, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Norway have raised issues with the service not being doctor-led.
The country’s first charity air ambulance landed in Kerry on Friday and will officially enter fulltime daylight hours next month.
It will cost €2million to run annually and is to be funded by community and donor contributions.
It will have an advanced paramedic and an emergency medical technician leading the care.
Irish Community Rapid Response – a charity dedicated to pre-hospital care – is running the service in co-operation with the HSE National Ambulance Service.
It will be also be supported by the HSE and Department of Health.
In the open letter, they said: “This is not up to the standard expected of a HEMS and will not be able to provide advanced pre-hospital medical and trauma care it is tasked to.
FLYING
“It will not be a flying ED [emergency department] or ICU.”
The letter stated a doctor-led service would “improve clinical outcomes, decrease mortality”.
It added: “The life and limbsaving pre-hospital interventions listed in this guideline cannot be provided outside of a physicianstaffed model in Ireland.
“Examples include and are not limited to pre-hospital blood transfusion to a bleeding patient, general anaesthetic in severe head injury and advanced trauma resuscitation including surgical eye, life and limbsaving interventions.”
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said: “Any new air ambulance service will operate as an extension of the existing Emergency Aeromedical Service.
“The EAS has been successfully operating for many years in partnership with the Irish Air Corps with the crewing model of an Advanced Paramedic and an Emergency Medical Technician.
“The spectrum of patients dealt with by our EAS differs from aeromedical services in other countries who have physician led crews. “Our EAS deals with less trauma, and more acute medicine [STEMI heart attacks and stroke].
“As our aeromedical service evolves, we will review how we can provide the best possible care.
“That might include physician crewing, or further expanding the competencies of EAS advanced paramedics.”
Doctor-led service would improve clinical outcomes DOCTORS’ LETTER TO HEALTH DEPARTMENT
doctors from around the world signed the letter to Health Department
what the air ambulance will cost to run each year