At 11 a.m. on Friday, 1 March at Broom Hill, Fethard-on-Sea, a young man, Mr. Timmy Sutton, while working on a low loader, sustained spinal injuries. Mr. Sutton is 28 years old is one of nine family members employed by Jim Sutton Plant Hire. Timmy, who has been married two years, was a careful worker. He was cleaning the machine when the accident occurred. Unfortunately, he was working away from his house on his own and was in agony for an hour before he could attract attention.
All emergency services were then alerted. An ambulance arrived from Wexford hospital as quickly as could be expected. The Hook peninsula, on which Mr. Sutton lives, is 28 miles from Wexford town. Because of the nature of his injury, the ambulance had to travel at ten miles per hour to the hospital. On arrival at the hospital and following examination, an air ambulance from Baldonnel was requested. It arrived but then there was an unbelievable succession of bizarre events. The incorrect stretcher was ordered. Because of this an anaesthetic had to be administered to accommodate the patient on the only stretcher on the helicopter. It was discovered that the anaesthetic would not have taken effect in time for the patient to be air lifted in daylight. The air ambulance, complete with special medical equipment and a highly specialised medical team, could not wait because it was not equipped with night flying equipment.
At this stage Mr. Sutton was in agony. His family, not knowing the extent of his injury, were very anxious. As someone said on that occasion, it was like having a car with no lights. I am told that now even lawnmowers have lights. Timmy's wife Mary, standing in the hospital grounds is quoted in last week's issue of the New Ross Standard as saying: “You could just have stood there and cried watching them fly off”. The crew and everything else necessary was there but they had to take off without him.
I received a call from the family on Saturday morning. On ringing Baldonnel to find out when the helicopter was coming back to Wexford, I was told there was a more urgent case. Why was this helicopter not in Wexford at first light? To cut a long, sad story short, the air ambulance arrived in Wexford at 4 p.m. and took Mr. Sutton to the Mater Hospital, Dublin. It took 31 hours for a patient with a severe spinal injury to be taken to hospital. This should have been done in five hours. An extra 26 hours is a long time to wait and God only knows what damage was done during this time.
This is 1996, not 1946. It is a disgrace that a fully equipped air ambulance was not available. During the week the Minister for the Marine, Deputy Barrett, announced that a helicopter with night flying equipment is being made available to assist in marine safety. This was a result of a call earlier this year by me and others. Can this helicopter be used as an air ambulance during night time emergencies for those with spinal injuries? When I asked this question during the week, I was given flippant answers. This is a serious issue. The Suttons hope that no other family will endure such a fiasco ever again. A fully equipped air ambulance service must be provided, particularly for the east and south-east coasts.
