Donegal County Council is being urged to consider training members of the Fire Service to attend emergency medical calls.
The idea is being brought forward by Cllr Michael McClafferty, who suggested that firefighters could get to patients quicker than ambulances to adminster first aid or use defibrillators.
Cllr McClafferty said the geographic problems of Donegal mean that many patients are at least 45-50 from the nearest hospital.
If an ambulance is called, he suggested that it would be useful if the fire service was allowed to do first aid, as they could be at a scene in “ten minutes tops”. He suggested that fire service staff could use their station jeep to respond to emergency calls such as cardiac arrests.
Cllr McClafferty said the fire responder service is ongoing in other counties in Ireland, and people have been saved from cardiac arrest after fire brigades arrived quicker than the ambulance.
However, the executive responded to say that difficulties lie in the provision of such services. The Fire Service is not resourced to provide a structured medical service to the public in addition to its core functions. While the HSE is government funded, the Fire Service is funded through locally generated revenue, including commercial rates and local property tax. Mr Garry Martin said: “The delivery of any form of additional services through the Fire Service would have to be funded from these local sources in the absence of a change in National policy on role and funding model.”
