Save our Service, Save a Life

 
ALERT - The Government is planning to cut emergency services across the West Cork region:

• Skibbereen Ambulance Service will be shut down between 8pm and 8am
• Castletownbere Ambulance Service will be shut down between 8pm and 8am
• Bantry Hospital Minor Injuries Assessment Unit will be shut down between 8pm and 8am
• The closures will operate 365 days a year.

The entire area of West Cork (population 82,000) will be left with only two ambulances overnight, one in Bantry and one in Clonakilty, and the closure of the Bantry Hospital unit during the same hours means that anyone needing hospital treatment will have to be transported to Cork city.

Incidently, 82,000 is also the capacity of Croke Park where there is a requirement of one ambulance in situ per 20,000 spectators i.e. four ambulances for capacity attendance at a major event. 

The HSE intend to provide Advanced Paramedic cover for emergency calls, however the AP response unit will have no patient carrying capability and an ambulance will have to be called on every occasion.

Whilst the expertise of the Advanced Paramedics is to be praised, and their availability necessary, these cuts will compromise the safety of both the residents of West Cork, and visitors coming to the region.
 
 

Given the popularity of the area as a tourist holiday destination, we believe West Cork will become the international yardstick by which to measure Ireland’s commitment to the provision of adequate emergency response services.
 
 

Keep up to date, and get involved – The HSE made a number of announcements in early December in an attempt to alleviate public concern, however we remain gravely concerned regarding the proposed changes and will continue to campaign during 2012.

We will continue to oppose the cuts, and we will work to raise public awareness of the inherent risks to those who live in West Cork, and indeed to all who live in rural areas across the southern region.

In the meantime you can help by signing the petition; it’s part of a broader plan, but it also demonstrates the level of concern in the community, and the desire to see these proposed cuts reversed.
 
 
“The life you save may be your own”.
 
 

 
 
Our aim is to make West Cork a beacon of optimism, and having an adequate emergency service allows us to send out a positive message that coming to Ireland remains good for your health.