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Thursday, May 04, 2006
Slowcoach army ambulance put baby’s life at risk
By Ashling Mackey
THE life of a Newbridge baby was put at risk recently because of a restrictor device that limits an army ambulance to speeds of just 55 miles per hour. The 14-month-old baby had reportedly slipped into unconsciousness following a seizure, but when the anguished parents called 999 it transpired that all the ambulances at Naas General Hospital were out on call.
The emergency protocol then kicked in and the Eastern Health Board Regional Area (EHRA) called for backup from the Defence Forces at the Curragh Camp. In February, the army had bought a new €250,000 state-of-theart Emergency Rescue vehicle as a back-up resource for the county.
As this new ambulance was on stand-by in the army barracks on the Curragh, it was closer to Newbridge than any other ambulance that could be dispatched from Naas.
The parents, who were relieved that the medical experts were on hand to deal with their little boy, were unaware that the paramedics were secretly panicking.
On the way to the hospital, the condition of the baby worsened, but instead of racing even faster the ambulance crew made a decision that baffled everyone.
They pulled over and called Naas General Hospital to dispatch a different ambulance to collect the child.
The reason was that they didn’t trust their own vehicle to save the child’s life as a restrictor had been put on the engine. This meant that the highest speed the ambulance could reach was 90kmh (around 55mph); the speed limit on the motorway to Tallaght hospital is 120kmh.
Emergency response vehicles regularly break the speed limits to save lives, but if this ambulance had tried to rush the child to hospital the journey would have taken three times as long as it should. Since the incident, Naas General Hospital has not called on the services of the Curragh ambulance as emergency back up.
The restrictor remains in place on that vehicle.
Over a typical weekend, the previous Military Medical Facility, which is no longer considered reliable or roadworthy, would have responded to up to 25 calls, but now people have to rely on back-up from Athy, which is at least 20 minutes away from Newbridge.
A spokesperson for the army said that the restrictor was a manufacturing design. He said: “It is a legal requirement to do with the weight of the vehicle, and is actually set higher than the legal speed limit for army vehicles.” He was keen to point out that the ambulance was for military use only and was only a back-up service for the EHRA.
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I just came across the above following a search for pictures of the Army Ambulances, does anyone know if this restrictor is still in place and if there are any plans to remove it?
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