High demand for ambulance services in Dublin region

Padraig Conlon 13 Jan 2022

The Emergency Ambulance Services of the Dublin Fire Brigade (DFB) and the National Ambulance Service (NAS) say they are experiencing a large volume of calls and requests for emergency ambulances at this time.

If you are calling 112/999 for a non-urgent or non-life threatening emergency you may experience delays in getting an ambulance due to calls from other patients whose emergency care needs have been triaged at a higher level.

In a statement, the HSE said:

“The emergency ambulance services operate a priority dispatch system to ensure that our paramedics and ambulances are dispatched to the most seriously ill and injured patients first in order of their priority.

“All callers are advised to ring back if the patient’s condition changes or deteriorates.

“The emergency service requests that patients who no longer require an ambulance, to contact us and let us know, so that we can ensure that our limited resources can be diverted to other life threatening calls.”

Dennis Keeley, Chief Fire Officer of Dublin Fire Brigade, said:  “We are experiencing very high demand for ambulances at present.

“We want to ensure that the sickest, that is, the most critical patients get an ambulance in a timely way.

“We thank you for your understanding in helping us serve the sickest in our community.”

Robert Morton, Director of the National Ambulance Service, said: “Please bear with us as we continue to be extremely busy.

“Our staff continue to work incredibly hard trying to deliver normal health services and respond to the pandemic.

“The HSE is incredibly thankful for the continuing efforts of all of our staff in what remains challenging circumstances.”

Further information on how to contact emergency services in Ireland is available on nationalambulanceservice.ie

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