Ambulances called for roadside help 90 times in three months
A HSE ambulance broke down and required roadside assistance every day during the first three months of 2018, new figures from the National Ambulance Service (NAS) reveal.
A total of 116 new emergency ambulances have been added to the national fleet since 2016, replacing older vehicles that included 13 with over 300,000km on the clock, and one that had over 400,000km.
However, the number of breakdowns has continued to rise. In 2016, a 24-hour breakdown and recovery service had to be dispatched on 203 occasions in response to call-outs from stranded ambulances.
This increased slightly to 205 in 2017 – an average of approximately four every week – despite the number of vehicles with over 300,000km on the clock being reduced to just three.
In the first three months of last year, there were 90 callouts in respect of faulty ambu- lances – an average of one every day.
The majority of stranded ambulances that needed assistance from the recovery service required a wheel change (63), while “loss of power” accounted for six of the 90 call-outs.
The reason for requiring roadside assistance was simply recorded as “wouldn’t start” in six instances, while electrical faults (six) and “other mechanical” (three) were also among the issues reported.
Almost a third of the breakdowns occurred in Dublin, while 10 were reported in Louth, seven in Wexford, and six in Meath.
There were five breakdowns in Galway, four in Limerick and two in Cork.
In 2017, wheel changes were again the most common reason for ambulances requiring roadside assistance, accounting for 148 of the 205 reported incidents.
“Loss of power” was cited as the reason for seeking breakdown assistance in 11 cases, while electrical faults accounted for 10, and “wouldn’t start” was reported on six occasions.
“The National Ambulance Service currently has a policy of replacing emergency ambulances every five years, and intermediate-care vehicles every seven years, irrespective of the kilometres on the odometer,” said a spokesperson.
The figures, which were released under the Freedom of Information Act, show there are currently 277 vehicles in the NAS fleet, representing a net increase of 12 since 2016.