asked the Minister for Health (a) if it will be possible for the health boards to organise proper care and attention for the victims of road traffic accidents by the rational organisation of first aid and medical attention in conjunction with the Irish Medical Association; and (b) if a rota of doctors could be made available on a round-the-clock basis to attend road accident victims.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Traffic Accident Victims.
6.
Health boards accept the responsibility of providing adequate services to cater for the victims of road traffic accidents. Each of the boards has a sufficient number of accident ambulances operated under radio control. These ambulances have all necessary equipment including resuscitation equipment and they are manned by personnel trained in first aid resuscitation techniques and patient handling. Where a patient is seriously injured the priority is to convey him safely to the nearest surgical hospital. For this reason, it is not thought that it should be a formal feature of this service to arrange for routine attendance on victims by local general practitioners.
Does this apply to the Western Health Board as well?
The general regulations and customs relating to accidents on the road apply to all the health boards. The ambulance personnel have a very good training course which lasts for a week, including a week in an accident department of a busy Dublin hospital. They have real experience of this. The vast majority of all the experts in this field tell me that the first thing to do is to get the patient to a hospital where he or she can receive surgical treatment and that it is undesirable to emphasise that part of the procedure which involves the attendance on the victim by a practitioner on the site of the accident. The main and important thing is to get the victim to hospital.
Is the Minister aware that in certain areas there are no doctors to attend even an accident case?
I am not so aware.