Vol. 406 No. 3
111 Mr. Cotter asked the Minister for Health the number of occasions on which ambulances operating in the North Eastern Health Board area failed to reach a patient during the course of 1990 because of narrow lanes and other obstructions; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I understand from the North Eastern Health Board that the board are unaware of any situation where the ambulance service has failed to reach a patient. The board informs me that there may be occasions when there is no recognisable entrance road to some isolated houses and the ambulances vehicle may have to go through the fields or seek assistance by way of tractor or other rough terrain transport. The ambulance staff's priority is to reach the patients as quickly as possible and organise a means of getting the patient to hospital immediately.
