All ten Specialist Paramedics working on the country’s two Air Ambulances have asked to be returned to their previous ambulance bases due to safety concerns.
Crews based in Cork and Dublin say the helicopters should be crewed by two specialist paramedics to provide pre-hospital care to critically ill patients.
The Air Ambulance helicopter at Rathcoole in Cork is operating with a single Specialist Paramedic since yesterday, while the helicopter based at Baldonnel in Dublin is crewed by a Specialist Paramedic and an Air Corp member who is trained to EMT level.
National Ambulance Service management have raised particular concerns about the solo-crewing of the air ambulance in Cork with senior management in recent days- with several saying staff have been trained to work in pairs and not solo.
Potential issues raised include fatigue, patient emergencies while in the air and only being able to carry a certain amount of equipment at the scene of an incident.
In a statement the HSE says the Air Ambulance has operated a successful crewing model of one specialist Paramedic and one Emergency Medical Technician since June 2012.
