Key services we offer

Providing an emergency response - Our main purpose is to respond to emergency 999 calls, getting medical help to patients who have serious or life-threatening injuries or illnesses as quickly as possible.

Responding to less serious calls - A large proportion of our patients, however, do not have serious or life-threatening conditions. And they don't need to be sent an ambulance on blue lights and sirens. Often they can receive more appropriate care somewhere other than at hospital.

Intermediate care patient transport service - We run an Intermediate Care Patient Transport Service which provides pre-arranged transportation for patients between healthcare settings, such as one hospital to another.

Providing an Emergency Response

Every time we receive a 999 call, our staff record the relevant details and use information about the nature of the patient's illness or injury to ensure they are sent the right medical help. Our Call Takers and Dispatchers use software to put the call into one of three categories based on its urgency and ensure an appropriate response is sent.

We class the most serious calls - those which are immediately life-threatening - as Category 1.

Those calls which are serious, but not life-threatening, are prioritised as Category 2 calls, while those which are neither serious nor life-threatening are graded as Category 3. Each call is given a response appropriate to its categorisation.

We have a range of highly skilled staff who will treat and transport our patients including:

·        Advanced Paramedics

·        Paramedics

·        Intermediate Care Operatives

The NAS is required to meet HIQA set targets for Category 1 calls. These targets state that we must work towards reaching:

• First Responder at 75 per cent of Category 1 calls within 8 minutes
• Transporting ambulance at 75 per cent of Category 1 calls within 19 minutes
• The response time is recorded from the moment that the incident address is verified by the Control Centre

Responding to less serious calls

We receive a large number of calls for patients who do not require an emergency response from an ambulance on blue lights and sirens but who could be treated more appropriately using a different pathway of care.

When to call us

You should always call 112 or 999 in a life-threatening emergency, if someone is seriously ill or injured, and their life is at risk.
Examples of medical emergencies include (but are not limited to):

• Chest pain
• difficulty in breathing
• unconsciousness
• severe loss of blood
• severe burns or scalds
• choking 
• fitting or concussion
• drowning
• severe allergic reactions.

Choose the right treatment

If it is not a life-threatening emergency and you, or the person you are with, do not need immediate medical attention, consider other options before you dial 999:

• Look after yourself or the patient at home. If you cannot stay at home, see if family or friends are able to help.
• Talk to your local pharmacist.
• Visit or call your GP.
• Make your own way to your hospital emergency department

Choose the best treatment for your needs . It allows us to help the people who need us the most.

Use our Map Centre to find the right treatment centre for you.

How to call an ambulance
You can call an ambulance on 112 or 999.

What happens when you call
When you call the emergency services an operator will ask you which service you need. If it's a medical emergency, ask for the ambulance service and you will be put through to one of our call-takers. You'll be asked for information about the patient's circumstances, but there are also some things that you can do before help arrives.

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Before we can help you…. We have to find you!

Guidelines for displaying house numbers/names

The crews in emergency vehicles are often frustrated (especially at night) by householders who don't display easy-to-read house or unit numbers/names on their homes. This may cause a delay in reaching the patient as the crew struggles to locate the incident address and find house numbers along a residential road. Here are some guidelines for displaying house or unit numbers or names:

• The minimum heights for numbers or letters are 75mm– small numbers and letters cannot be seen from the roadside, especially at night. If your door or wall has the space available, fix numbers or letters larger than 75mm.
• Use plain, easy to read numbers or letters made from white or yellow reflective material – red, blue or green (even reflective red, blue or green) cannot be easily seen, even with a spotlight at night.
• Attach the numbers or letters to a dark non-reflective background or mounting plate – a light colored or reflective background washes out the numbers/letters and makes them much harder to read.
• Display the numbers or name on the front of your property – the front doors or porches of houses are often too far from the roadside for the number or name to be found and read quickly. The Ambulance crews will look for bright numbers or names, counting the houses as they drive along the road.
• Keep bushes and shrubs around your house number or name trimmed.
• In estates ask the Developer or Council to erect a large numbered and labeled site map at each driveway entrance to the estate.
• If you are in business, clearly display your street/unit number at the front of your premises.

Driving as an Ambulance Approaches

Always give way to emergency ambulances displaying lights and audible warnings.

Do not brake or change direction quickly.

Slowly pull over to the left of the road and stop.

Do not block junctions or driveways.

If you are at traffic lights, wait for the lights to change to green and then pull over to the left and stop. When the ambulance has passed check your mirrors and indicate before pulling out as others often see this as a chance to overtake.