A Longford Councillor is calling for local first responders, fire service paramedics and Civil Defence medical personnel to be used as fast response teams in cardiac emergency cases.
Councillor Paraic Brady from Drumlish suffered a cardiac incident earlier this year, that saw an ambulance take almost an hour to get to him.
The National Ambulance Service has is currently drafting in private ambulance services due to a shortage of staff in the sector.
This is resulting in increased wait times for ambulances, especially in rural regions.
At this months meeting of the Longford Municipal District, Councillor Brady says local first responder teams can be deployed to the scene of a cardiac arrest in a fraction of the time.
He's calling on the council to liaise with the HSE in order to include the services in any such emergency call out:
