Irish Community Rapid Response (ICRR ) has announced the launch of a new rapid response vehicle for Mayo which will take place today, Friday, at 2.30pm in the Westport Plaza Hotel. The launch will be carried out by Minister Michael Ring.
Since 2008, ICRR has been developing a growing network of volunteer medical professionals throughout Ireland. The volunteer doctors can be called on to deliver critical pre-hospital advanced medical interventions within “the golden hour,” meaning the time period during which there is the highest likelihood that prompt medical treatment will prevent serious injury or death.
The Mayo ICRR rapid response vehicle (RRV ) will greatly support the volunteer doctor in providing professional emergency pre-hospital care, and impact the Mayo community greatly. Dr Jason Horan, Mayo ICRR volunteer doctor, is a consultant in emergency medicine at Castlebar General Hospital. He has been the nominated ICRR responder for several years, and in the past year Mayo ICRR has responded to more than 130 calls for assistance from the HSE National Ambulance Service via the 999/112 call system. This included eight road traffic collisions and several sick children.
The ICRR network of volunteer GPs in Mayo is to expand in the coming weeks in partnership with University College Dublin Centre for Emergency Medical Science. This will enhance the UCD’s MERIT 3 Programme (Medical Emergency Responders: Education and Training – Phase 3 ). Several Mayo GPs participate in MERIT and will receive their defibrillators and emergency bags at the event on Friday. The expansion of MERIT 3 to Mayo has been made possible through a recent generous CLÁR grant.
The new rapid response vehicle, a Renault Kadjar crossover, is one of seven generously donated by Renault Ireland. This now brings the total number of ICRR RRVs in Ireland to nine, with the RRVs being based in several locations including Mayo, Roscommon, Dublin, Offaly, Kilkenny/Waterford, and Kerry.
