Irish paramedics claim fatigue putting lives at risk after ambulance overturns
Paramedics across the country claim their lives are being put at risk because of fatigue.
One crew had a lucky escape this week when their ambulance crashed into a ditch and overturned on a road on their way home to Castlebar, Co Mayo, after they delivered a patient from Sligo General Hospital to Galway University Hospital.
It is understood the crew were asked to do the extra duty call after their marathon 12-hour shift had ended.
Paramedics nationwide claim this is now a regular occurrence and they are often asked to do 16 hours a day because of demand on the system.
It is believed the crew involved in the west of Ireland accident blamed tiredness for the incident.
They had been working all night. No other vehicle was involved and thankfully neither of them were seriously injured. Luckily there was also no patient in the ambulance at the time.
A senior paramedic who revealed details of the incident said: "This happens all the time, a 12-hour shift can be a 13, 14, 15 or 16 hours shift. We are sick of working extended duty and we never get finished on time.
"But to be sent on a hospital to hospital transfer like this crew were, after working all night, is wrong.
"It is dangerous and unfortunately we are going to see more of these accidents caused by fatigue if something urgent is not done about it.
"If we say 'No', the Control Room asks us, 'are you refusing to do the call?' and our paramedic staff are terrified they will be disciplined as a result.
"They are accepting these calls after their shift is finished out of fear when they should do a dynamic assessment and say 'no'."
In a statement the HSE said: "The HSE can confirm that a National Ambulance Service vehicle returning from an incident was involved in a single vehicle collision.
"No patient was on board and no staff injuries have been reported. Local line management is following up on the incident in line with normal HSE procedures."
The HSE said the NAS Emergency Care Service provided 24/7 services, 365 days of the year with vehicles covering in excess of two million kilometres per month.
It stated: "Rostering arrangements for staff are agreed with the trade unions and provide for most staff to work 14 shifts per month or an average of 169 shifts per year. Working arrangements must comply with Health and Safety regulations."
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Irish Times
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Letters to the Editor, June 11th: On hospital consultants, gender issues and book censorship
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