It has been quite a busy year for the Mayo ICRR volunteer doctor, Dr James Horan, with a number of significant call-outs.
In the past year Mayo ICRR has responded to 96 calls for assistance from the HSE National Ambulance Service. This included 10 road traffic collisions and six sick or injured children.
The volunteer doctor also attended 11 cardiac arrests and is the first Emergency Service on-scene in 75 per cent of these serious events. Two patients were successfully resuscitated in the past year while 'treat and discharge' applied to six patients, where it was determined that they did not require an ambulance to bring them to hospital.
The service frees up valuable pre-hospital resources and avoids an unnecessary wait in the Emergency Department. When necessary, interventions can be performed on-scene that otherwise would not have been done until after the patient arrived in hospital. On occasion Dr Horan has to travel in the ambulance with the patient to hospital, continuing treatment en-route. Overall in 2018, Dr Horan spent 86 hours directly responding to some of the most serious calls in the county.
Mayo ICRR relies on the support of the local community which it serves. It always requires both financial and practical support as well as help with fundraising and logistic and administrative support. If you would like to become involved, please see www.mayoicrr.ie/help for details.
