Civil Air Ambulance Service

[Buran]

With all of this talk of providing a civil air ambulance service
(€10m - €12m a year)
what do you think about how this will affect the air corps, who have previously provided this service.
This of course follows on from the civilianisation of the off shore SAR service.

should the air corps be supported into providing an expanded service, with dedicated aircraft?

should the civil service have the capability of SAR for mountain rescue and coastal rescue (which is, what i understand, the only reason the air corps are to retain SAR capability going forward)

should the air corps have their civil support role more or less totally removed and civilianised (unless of course in emergencies) and just become a true army air corps, in support of the army

does all this civilianisation, just leave the air corps at risk of being downgraded (in terms of funding, etc) as these previously critical services are no longer being provided by them. for example if there is a down turn in the economy, the defence budget was always hit first, but now, if they dont even do these important services...

[Buran]

Just too add
(and yes i got this off the radio)
the Isle of Man has a 3 helicopter air ambulance service
and thats not even to take people to the mainland.
they have a pretty good local hospital with neurosurgeons etc (TT races)

[Silver]

IMHO the Air Corps should provide ALL State helicopter services.

However, it seems unlikely that SAR will be returned to the Corps anytime soon, and indeed I believe any new AA service will be contracted out to a civilian company as I believe it is to be an "all-Ireland" service (i.e. to cover the North also) - which would therefore rule out the AC as the provider.

Perhaps it is a good thing that the AC is being 'relieved' of providing these services as it will allow them to concentrate on their core role of supporting the Army and Navy.
(E.g - perhaps if more helis are freed of other duties (e.g. AA, SAR) some of them could be depolyed overseas - perhaps occassionally at least).  

Having said all that, to my knowledge the AC will continue to train crews for SAR as a backup service to the Coast Guard, to use if required (i.e. major disaster).

[futurepilot]

The Air Corps at the moment certainly couldn`t help the coastguard if say a ferry went on fire halfway between Ireland and Wales. The Dauphins(whats left of them)have had their winches removed and the Alouettes are allowed go more than 5 miles out to sea. Even if they were allowed help out they wouldnt be of much use.
Once the (hopefuly) Blackhawks arrive, then they`ll be able to help but at the moment they aren`t in the position to.

[FMolloy]

From the Irish Times:

Consortium discusses provision of helicopter ambulance service
Martin Wall

          
        
  A consortium of doctors, solicitors and accountants is in discussion with the Department of Health about the provision of the country's first dedicated helicopter ambulance service.

The operation would be run on a not-for-profit basis by a charity which would be established for the purpose.

Mr David Hall, chairman of HEMS Ireland, the company behind the project, told The Irish Times that the helicopter service could be running by the middle of next year using a leased aircraft.

The helicopter would transport patients between hospitals. A limited service of this type is currently operated by the Air Corps and the coast guard helicopter service.

Mr Hall said the company would be looking for tax breaks from the State, and for Department of Health funding to cover initial costs. It envisaged that its on-going operations would be financed through public subscription and corporate donations. The service could cost €1.8 million per year to operate.

Meanwhile, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children was told yesterday that a consultancy report, commissioned by the Department of Health, had recommended the introduction of a dedicated airborne, inter-hospital transfer service on an all-island basis.

The consultants' report estimated that a dedicated helicopter service could carry out between 400 and 600 inter-hospital transfers per year.

Mr Denis O'Sullivan, principal officer at the Department of Health, told the committee that in addition to the proposed private-sector helicopter operation, the service provided by the Air Corps would be enhanced from next year following a fleet-replacement programme.

[FMolloy]

Note the last paragraph:

Mr Denis O'Sullivan, principal officer at the Department of Health, told the committee that in addition to the proposed private-sector helicopter operation, the service provided by the Air Corps would be enhanced from next year following a fleet-replacement programme.

It seems the Department of Health have decided what the new helis are to be used for already.

[Silver]

It's great to see that an air ambulance may finally 'get off the ground' (if you pardon the pun!)............but I would have expected a full HEMS service, not just an 'inter hospital' heli service    '>

I mean in this day and age we should have a heli service that can land at a car accident scene (for example) to assist  victims.

.........perhaps in time, eh ?!