Gay Mitchell
Ceist:94 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will make a statement in response to the concerns of a person (details supplied) in County Wicklow. [25317/00]
Written Answers. - Medical Services.
Policy on the development of emergency medical services in Ireland is set out in a number of documents including the Report of the Review Group on the Ambulance Service and Building Healthier Hearts, the Government's cardiovascular health strategy. Since the publication of the report of the review group on the ambulance service considerable progress has been made in the area of training for emergency medical technicians and the Government is now taking steps to implement the recommendations of the cardiovascular health strategy in relation to advanced training.
The Pre-hospital Emergency Care Council which I recently established, will provide a firm basis for the future development of professional standards in the ambulance service and pre-hospital care generally. One of the first tasks the council will be asked to address are the issues surrounding the development of advanced emergency medical technician training, including the regulatory issues which arise in relation to this. I expect the council to deal comprehensively with all issues in its consideration of advanced training and to provide a detailed implementation plan in the near future.