Climbing to help air ambulance take flight
AUBANE Social Club has recently been acknowledged for a fund-raising venture and one of its most highly regarded initiatives.
All participants in the club’s annual climb to the summit of Mushera Mountain were applauded for venturing out to support the traditional staging and helping the Irish Community Rapid Response and the provision of an Air Ambulance set to based in Rathcoole.
Aubane Social Club Chairman John F Kelleher commended the dedicated participants, who came out in huge numbers to add another momentous chapter to the history of this popular event.
John said the worthy recipients were a deserving cause, and a €2,000 cheque was presented to the Air Ambulance.
In reply, Shirley O’Regan expressed gratitude on the generous subscription towards enhancing their involvement from the 100 participants in the annual event.
Irish Community Rapid Response (ICRR) founder John Kearney has been striving for a decade to launch a Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) in Ireland.
“His pre-hospital care charity has a network of rapid response vehicles and volunteer doctors delivering a land-based emergency service around the country,” said Shirley.
“But he has always wanted to launch a doctor-led air ambulance service to mirror successful models across the UK and Europe.”
Thanks to a massive fundraising drive, it was announced last summer that a contract had been signed between ICRR and UK-based Sloane Helicopters to provide the aircraft for the service.
AW109 helicopter has been leased from Sloane Helicopters in the UK and will be based at Rathcoole.
“It will be within 20 minutes’ flying distance of a large swathe of the south of the country from Kerry to Wexford covering much of the area,” Shirley said.
“The air ambulance will be run by the Irish Community Rapid Response – a charity dedicated to pre-hospital care – and it will cost €2 milliona year to operate.
“The money will go towards the leasing of the helicopter and its operation”, Ms O’Regan added.
The air ambulance is expected to respond to up to 500 calls per year and bring most of the population of a 15,000-square-kilometre area within 20 minutes of critical medical care.
It will be tasked through the National Ambulance Service 999 and 112 call systems.
The air ambulance will operate for seven days a week and will be critical in getting emergency cases from less accessible locations to the hospitals they need.