Plea for government funding of Community Air Ambulance

The funding of the Community Air Ambulance was discussed at a meeting of Cork County Council earlier this month, as the service answered 512 callouts in 2021. Cllr John Paul O’Shea asked for support from his colleagues to ask the government for annual state funding for the Mallow-based charity.

Launched in July 2019, the Irish Community Air Ambulance is Ireland’s only charity funded Emergency Medical Service. In the council meeting, Mitchelstown councillor, Kay Dawson supported Cllr O’Shea, saying she ‘shuddered to think’ where her brother Tom Quinlan would be without the service.

Mr Quinlan from Galbally had an accident on his farm and was trapped under a tree with a broken pelvis and broken ribs when the Air Ambulance came to his aid. In 2021 he spoke with The Avondhu to praise the service and in September, the community of Galbally donated the €28,000 they had raised for the Community Air Ambulance, an initiative started after Tom and four others in the locality had needed the service.

Each of the Community Air Ambulance calls costs on average €3,500 to run, and the service responded to 490 missions in 2020, increasing to 512 calls in 2021.

Cllr Frank Roche also supported the motion, referencing recent ambulance delays experienced throughout Cork and particularly in the village of Castletownroche, where he said one family lost their father and it could potentially have been averted had an ambulance been on the scene quicker.

The Irish Community Air Ambulance say they can bring casualties to the hospital that best suits their life saving needs, not just the closest geographically. The Air Ambulance is staffed by advanced paramedics and EMTs from the National Ambulance Service.