Council officials worried motion would change role of fire service

Council officials expressed reservations about a call from Cllr John McGahon for defibrillators to be installed on all fire tenders in the county, saying it would see them taking on the role of the Ambulance Service.

The Fine Gael councillor argued that there were three defibrillators on the fire tenders in Dundalk, Carlingford and Drogheda, and that the life-saving devices should be on all tenders of the retained service. He noted that defibrillators were to commonplace in most sports clubs, schools,etc.

The devices cost an average of €2,500 and come with an eight year guarantee so it would cost €12,500 to equip the fine retained tenders.

Sinn Fein councillor Joanne Byrne raised questions about the provision of training for fire fighters in how to use defibrillators and the cost of maintaining them,

Chairman Cllr Colm Markey said it was his understanding that there was a cohort of staff already trained in the use of the devices.

Supporting the motion, Cllr Maria Doyle said that the training wasn’t onerous and the equipment came with foolproof instructions. She also noted that staff in the school where she works were trained in using defibrillators.

Director of Service Mr Joe McGuinness said that the Fire Service is charged with extinguishing fires and rescuing people from accidents but was not an ambulance service. It was not within the remit of the fire service and he felt such as ‘ significant national issue’ needed to be addressed by the HSE and national ambulance service not the local authority. He added that an exception had been made in the case of the Carlingford tender because of the remoteness of the area.

Green Party councillor Marianne Butler pointed out that defibrillators can be found in schools,GAA clubs, and the main streets of towns so she didn’t see why they couldn’t have them on fire tenders.

Cllr McGahon argued that all fire fighters are already trained in using defibrillators.

‘Our responsibility is to extinguish fires, anything else is secondary,’ said Mr McGuinness.

Chief Executive Ms Joan Martin stated: ‘It is not about cost or training, it’s about taking a step which changes the offering the fire service makes.’

‘It’s not something I would step into lightly,’ she said, saying it would have to be looked at at national level as it would represent a ‘ fundamental change’ in the role of the fire service, by assuming a responsibility which wasn’t assigned to them.

‘It’s something we have to look at carefully, ‘