Garda drives ambulance/injured child to hospital

paddy147

A garda had to drive an ambulance with a sick boy in it to hospital.

Reason being was a shortage of paramedic staff



..."A garda had to drive an ambulance with an injured child to hospital last week because of a shortage of paramedic staff on duty.
The Meath garda was forced to take the wheel as the only paramedic on board tended to the patient.
The shocking incident occurred near Dunsany, Co Meath, when a car containing three children and a woman veered off the road and plummeted down a 10m drop before hitting a tree"...


http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/garda-drove-ambulance-as-medic-tended-to-injured-child-229971.html

Uriel.

paddy147 wrote: »

A garda had to drive an ambulance with a sick boy in it to hospital.

Reason being was a shortage of paramedic staff



....."The Meath garda was forced to take the wheel as the only paramedic on board tended to the patient.

The shocking incident occurred near Dunsany, Co Meath, when a car containing three children and a woman veered off the road and plummeted down a 10m drop before hitting a tree"......


http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/garda-drove-ambulance-as-medic-tended-to-injured-child-229971.html

Ok. Thank you Mr news anchor

paddy147

Uriel. wrote: »

Ok. Thank you Mr news anchor

Corvo

I dont know what else to say apart from...eh...fair play to him.

The Queen of England

What a hero.

I'm sure he'll put in for overtime, danger money, compensation then take an extended sick leave break on the basis of "psychological damage".

kraggy

The Queen of England wrote: »

What a hero.

I'm sure he'll put in for overtime, danger money, compensation then take an extended sick leave break on the basis of "psychological damage".

Oh fúck right off.

The story here is the devastating cuts taking place across government services all around the country.

But you go right ahead and have a go at public sector workers if that gives you a little thrill.

JazzyJ

The Queen of England wrote: »

What a hero.

I'm sure he'll put in for overtime, danger money, compensation then take an extended sick leave break on the basis of "psychological damage".

More like get suspended from his job on health and safety grounds.

oldyouth

kraggy wrote: »

Oh fúck right off.

The story here is the devastating cuts taking place across government services all around the country.

But you go right ahead and have a go at public sector workers if that gives you a little thrill.

Well that escalated...............etc.

Degag

Don't see why this is a news story tbh. A Garda, a public servant, someone most likely trained to drive at high speeds if necessary, drives an ambulance to the hospital. :eek:

The Queen of England

kraggy wrote: »

Oh fúck right off.

The story here is the devastating cuts taking place across government services all around the country.

But you go right ahead and have a go at public sector workers if that gives you a little thrill.

It's not really about devastating cuts taking place across government services - it's about a Garda driving an ambulance back to a hospital which is no big deal, seeing as it's part of their standard operating procedure if there is only one paramedic with the ambulance.

The story has been sensationalized by a combination of the local TD talking bollox and the journalist being a twat and has been turned into a "devastating cuts across the public sector" story, done an all too familiar TV3 style of journalism.

It's cock, which is why I added my tongue-in-cheek hidden line at the end.

Boombastic

Are you sure he wasn't trying to steal the ambulance?

fergiesfolly

The Queen of England wrote: »

What a hero.

I'm sure he'll put in for overtime, danger money, compensation then take an extended sick leave break on the basis of "psychological damage".

No he won't. He'll put it down to experience and get on with his job.
And you'll looking for him to help you out when you need him.And then you'll find someway to piss and moan about that. And he'll put that down to experience too.

Steve O

Maybe it was lunchtime and he forgot were he parked his squad car.

kraggy

The Queen of England wrote: »

It's not really about devastating cuts taking place across government services - it's about a Garda driving an ambulance back to a hospital which is no big deal, seeing as it's part of their standard operating procedure if there is only one paramedic with the ambulance.

The story has been sensationalized by a combination of the local TD talking bollox and the journalist being a twat and has been turned into a "devastating cuts across the public sector" story, done an all too familiar TV3 style of journalism.

It's cock, which is why I added my tongue-in-cheek hidden line at the end.

A paramedic driving to an incident on his/her own is not standard. How is he supposed to treat a patient AND drive the ambulance back to the hospital when there is no Garda in the vicinity?

The real story here IS the cutbacks.

The Queen of England

I'm experiencing double, possibly treble vision.

Bogota

Degag wrote: »

Don't see why this is a news story tbh. A Garda, a public servant, someone most likely trained to drive at high speeds if necessary, drives an ambulance to the hospital. :eek:

I'd assume driving an ambulance is completely different to a squad car or van. I've no idea but I'd guess that you'd have to be specially trained in driving an ambulance considering there's people in the back and the difference in weightload etc. when cornering.

Anyway the point is its a shocking indictment of some of the cutbacks implemented. It's a downright disgrace that anything involving senior citizens remain *largely* untouched because the government fears losing the all important senior vote while things such as emergency services are drastically cut resulting in incidences like this one.

TheNog

I had a drive an ambulance about 5 yrs ago to meet a cardiac ambulance and then onto the hospital. It happens sometimes but rare. The ambulance had 2 paramedics but situation required both to work on the patient. Coincidence maybe but I work in Meath too.

The real story here is not why a Garda had to drive an ambulance but why an ambulance was single crewed and dispatched to an incident.

mathepac

The Queen of England wrote: »

I'm experiencing double, possibly treble vision.

We understand Ma'am. It's your age.

Big Bottom

That is an absolute disgrace.

mathepac

TheNog wrote: »

... The real story here is not why a Garda had to drive an ambulance but why an ambulance was single crewed and dispatched to an incident.

I can imagine some low-life HSE "manager" type rubbing his hands with glee now the precedent has been established. "All ambulances to be single crewed from now on lads; let's go to lunch."

blindside88

As far as I know you require a c licence to drive an ambulance because of the extra weight (I could be wrong), if that's correct then the Garda mightn't have the relevant licence and could leave the state in line for a whopper of a lawsuit if there was an accident. I have never driven one and would imagine it is completely different to driving a squad car. Fair play to him though

Cedrus

Oe maybe it's about the Absenteeism!

It would appear that membersip of a union and having a permanent and pensionable job are not good for your health. :rolleyes:

Boombastic

Yes, they should blame their 'sick' colleagues


New figures show the worst hit area for absenteeism is the ambulance service in the north east, where 10.53pc were absent from work over the course of three months.

Stinicker

kraggy wrote: »

Oh fúck right off.

The story here is the devastating cuts taking place across government services all around the country.

But you go right ahead and have a go at public sector workers if that gives you a little thrill.

May I direct you to those responsible for these cuts?

Ben D Bus

10% absenteeism is ****ing outrageous. Pulling a duvet day, leaving a colleague to work on their own and jeopardising the welfare of people in need of urgent medical care is seriously nasty.

If that's what happened.

feargale

The Queen of England wrote: »

What a hero.

I'm sure he'll put in for overtime, danger money, compensation then take an extended sick leave break on the basis of "psychological damage".

Unfair

mathepac

Stinicker wrote: »

May I direct you to those responsible for these cuts?

May I direct you to these damning stats from the Indo article above -

"The second highest rate at 8.19pc was in Roscommon County Hospital but was a massive 14.45pc among some of its staff.

In the Midlands ambulance service the absenteeism rate among administration staff hit a spectacular high of 17.91pc, according to the figures supplied by HSE."

Arcsin

mathepac wrote: »

I can imagine some low-life HSE "manager" type rubbing his hands with glee now the precedent has been established. "All ambulances to be single crewed from now on lads; let's go to lunch."

Low life HSE manager? You're a charming fellow aren't you?

That really is a brain dead comment from someone with no idea of the pressures the health service is under these days.

orestes

4 ambulances were at the scene of the incident, it's not like there was only one ambulance with one paramedic for the entire area or something. It's the emergency services for crying out loud, they can't exactly plan for being unexpectedly busy. It's part of the nature of what they do that things like this will happen occasionally, no matter how many staff happen to be available at any given time.

gctest50

Arcsin wrote: »

That really is a brain dead comment from someone with no idea of the pressures the health service is under these days.

Yep, keeping up with those iPhone updates is rough :

http://goo.gl/shK6R

Senna

mathepac wrote: »

the absenteeism rate among administration staff hit a spectacular high of 17.91pc, according to the figures supplied by HSE."

That is a fúcking disgrace.

Micky Dolenz

gctest50 wrote: »

Yep, keeping up with those iPhone updates is rough :

http://goo.gl/shK6R

You'll have to explain that one to me. have no idea why you think it is relevant.

RustyNut

blindside88 wrote: »

As far as I know you require a c licence to drive an ambulance because of the extra weight (I could be wrong), if that's correct then the Garda mightn't have the relevant licence and could leave the state in line for a whopper of a lawsuit if there was an accident. I have never driven one and would imagine it is completely different to driving a squad car. Fair play to him though

Gardai don't need a licence of any class.

ted1

kraggy wrote: »

Oh fúck right off.

The story here is the devastating cuts taking place across government services all around the country.

But you go right ahead and have a go at public sector workers if that gives you a little thrill.

Well if a staff member went home sick it's not due to lack of funding just poor planning. Perhaps the real issue is the number if sick days taking by public servants.

Celly Smunt

RustyNut wrote: »

Gardai don't need a licence of any class.

Yeah but i guarentee they don't have a licence to kill like me.

blindside88

RustyNut wrote: »

Gardai don't need a licence of any class.

I wasn't aware of that. So can a Garda hop in and drive an articulated truck or a 1000cc motorbike having never driven one before? Doesn't sound very clever

ted1

RustyNut wrote: »

Gardai don't need a licence of any class.

I'm sure general health and safety would come in here.

confuseddotcom

Jaysus talk about bitter

Catkins407

In general u do need a c licence to drive an ambulance but don't think it applies to Gardai . He stepped in and did it and credit is due to him and the paramedic who was out on his own. Innocent question here. If someone called in sick would they try to get cover and call someone else in? The Garda should never have had to do this. There should have been proper staffing on the ambulance . Whether that is down to cutbacks or absenteeism we don't really know do we?
Scary stuff for the rest of us who may need an ambulance someday. Frontline services do need support and proper resources in order to get on with their jobs.

Senna

blindside88 wrote: »

I wasn't aware of that. So can a Garda hop in and drive an articulated truck or a 1000cc motorbike having never driven one before? Doesn't sound very clever

It not like they are forced to drive something they cant, I'm sure the Garda involved in this story felt he was more than comfortable/competent to drive the ambulance. There was plenty of other Guards there to drive he didn't. Road traffic rules can be ignored by a Garda if its deemed necessary.

RustyNut

blindside88 wrote: »

I wasn't aware of that. So can a Garda hop in and drive an articulated truck or a 1000cc motorbike having never driven one before? Doesn't sound very clever

That's the way it is, and a good job in this case.

ted1 wrote: »

I'm sure general health and safety would come in here.

I hope so.

Catkins407

Senna wrote: »

It not like they are forced to drive something they cant, I'm sure the Garda involved in this story felt he was more than comfortable/competent to drive the ambulance. There was plenty of other Guards there to drive he didn't. Road traffic rules can be ignored by a Garda if its deemed necessary.[/

Gardai have their own pretty large vans and such they have to drive anyway. It's not like all they drive are squad cars.

blindside88

Senna wrote: »

It not like they are forced to drive something they cant, I'm sure the Garda involved in this story felt he was more than comfortable/competent to drive the ambulance. There was plenty of other Guards there to drive he didn't. Road traffic rules can be ignored by a Garda if its deemed necessary.

I appreciate that he felt comfortable driving it and fair play to him for doing it. But did he have any experience in driving something like that before. An ambulance is not like a car. Also if a Garda felt confident and felt it was necessary could he/she drive an articulated truck with no experience. It just seems like an absolutely ridiculous system. By the way I don't dispute that he did the right thing but I do think it leaves the state open to serious law suits.

awec

They are making the wrong cuts in the public sector.

They need to get rid of the suits, not paramedics or guards or emergency services front line staff in general.

The pointless upper and middle managers, administrators etc should be the ones seeing the cuts first.

Madam_X

Of course no questioning as to why absenteeism levels are high among paramedics though - more fun to pretend it's all down to just pulling sickies.
The anti public sector folks could be glad of paramedics when their bitterness eats them up so much that their physical health is ruined.

ted1

awec wrote: »

They are making the wrong cuts in the public sector.

They need to get rid of the suits, not paramedics or guards or emergency services front line staff in general.

The pointless upper and middle managers, administrators etc should be the ones seeing the cuts first.

I know if a chef who works with 6 other chefs in a hospital each chef has there own manager who signs of the menu , literally that's all they do . She says they facebook and play games all day and that the managers are not trained to sign off menus as Chefs would be . So no need for them, these are the people who need to go

Catkins407

Madam_X wrote: »

Of course no questioning as to why absenteeism levels are high among paramedics though - more fun for the to pretend it's all down to just pulling sickies.
The anti public sector folks could be glad of paramedics when their bitterness eats them up so much that their physical health is ruined.

Excellent point. I know some paramedics. They are geniuses at emergency medicine . Especially the advanced paramedics. They are all lunatics though. I mean that in a nice way. They honestly see some of the most appalling and harrowing things on roads and in the course of their duty. I don't even want to begin to think about it. They burn out and they have huge stress levels a lot of the time.

awec

Madam_X wrote: »

Of course no questioning as to why absenteeism levels are high among paramedics though - more fun to pretend it's all down to just pulling sickies.
The anti public sector folks could be glad of paramedics when their bitterness eats them up so much that their physical health is ruined.

Really wish people would knock this "anti public sector" overly emotive crap on the head.

Madam_X

awec wrote: »

Really wish people would knock this "anti public sector" overly emotive crap on the head.

You don't see the unjustified vitriol from a lot of people towards the public sector? I don't work in the public sector btw and I agree it's justified towards some clerical staff, but there are people who jump at every opportunity to have a go at the whole lot of them and it looks like pure resentfulness, nothing else.

kraggy

ted1 wrote: »

Well if a staff member went home sick it's not due to lack of funding just poor planning. Perhaps the real issue is the number if sick days taking by public servants.

Perhaps the real issue is that there weren't enough staff on if the safety of the public is put at risk because ONE member of staff had to home sick. Perhaps this is because of lack of staff in that region.

Anyway, my original anger was directed at the poster who suggested the Garda would claim a litany of expenses/compensatory sums for driving the ambulance when that clearly isn't the issue at hand.

What would have happened had there been a bigger incident involving more injuried parties?

ted1

kraggy wrote: »

Perhaps the real issue is that there weren't enough staff on if the safety of the public is put at risk because ONE member of staff had to home sick. Perhaps this is because of lack of staff in that region.

Anyway, my original anger was directed at the poster who suggested the Garda would claim a litany of expenses/compensatory sums for driving the ambulance when that clearly isn't the issue at hand.

What would have happened had there been a bigger incident involving more injuried parties?

You can't have a crew of a thousand ambulances readyvjustvin case the **** hits the fan, no matter how many you accidents you cater for there is the possibility if needing more