The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Air ambulance drops in for a flying visit
HOW many lives have you saved this year? Students of Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne were getting straight to the point when they met volunteers from the Irish Community Air Ambulance (ICAA) service who dropped in out of the sky in their Eurocopter EC 135 for a flying visit on Thursday afternoon.
The students also wanted to know about the range of services provided by the air ambulance, the kind of emergencies they deal with, the cost of running the voluntary service… The questions fired at ICAA Chief Executive John Kearney were all very much on the ball. “Better questions than you’d get from adults,” said John afterwards, and he was particularly happy to hear the students asking how they could help. That, after all, was the purpose of the visit: to create awareness and to encourage people to raise funds for the service, which is run on an entirely voluntary basis with no State aid.
The ICAA was set up in 2008 with one volunteer doctor and the aim of saving just one life in its first year. They did better than that, saving 12 lives in their first year in operation. In the following year 20 lives were saved and the ICAA has continued to expand with 137 volunteer doctors, from Donegal to Kerry, currently supporting the service.
John said the aim for this year is to expand to a full time, seven days per week service with full time doctors. In the absence of any State support this hinges on strong community support which can come in the form of voluntary work, donations and fundraising efforts. The money side of things is vital and the ICAA is currently trying to raise €1 million to keep the helicopter in the air for six months, from next summer to the end of the year.