HSE ‘working to improve Mulranny ambulance base’

HSE ‘working to improve Mulranny ambulance base’

Áine Ryan

THE HSE has confirmed it ‘has been working towards the establishment of an ambulance base in Mulranny’. The executive was responding to a story in last week’s edition of The Mayo News in which Mulranny-based GP, Dr Jerry Cowley was highly critical of the service after he delivered a seventh baby in his surgery. He criticised the fact that the base had been opened but had no ambulance stationed there on a permanent basis.
Dr Cowley has been a longtime campaigner for the establishment of this base to service the vast rural and remote areas of Achill and parts of Erris.
In a statement, the HSE said that an ambulance was despatched to Mulranny on the evening of Friday, January 31. This was in response to a 999 call by Dr Cowley after Achill woman Elaine Gallagher arrived at his door, in labour,  shortly after 6.30pm with her partner and sister. The ambulance arrived just five minutes before she gave birth 40 minutes later. She told The Mayo News both herself and her partner, Trevor Floody, were ‘traumatised’ by the experience as her baby girl, Amaya, was not breathing when she was born.
She said she was very grateful to Dr Cowley, his wife Teresa Cowley and daughter, Dr Caroline Cowley Ó FaolΡin.  
The HSE statement confirmed that ‘[currently] during the daytime, when most emergencies occur, Mayo has six emergency response crews staffed with paramedics and Advanced Paramedic’ and that ‘[at] night Mayo is resourced with four emergency crews’.
A spokeswoman explained: “Emergency ambulances from all stations across the West are used in a dynamic manner to maintain emergency cover and respond to emergency calls, as required.  All ambulance stations across the county and adjacent counties support each other, and the nearest available ambulance responds to an emergency call, regardless of where it is based. This ensures the best response to all patients and ensures an ambulance is despatched when an emergency call is received.”