Medical emergency charity rolls out new fleet

The Emergency medical response charity, Critical, has launched a new fleet of rapid response cars with communities in County Waterford benefiting.

The organisation is providing its teams of critical and advanced care doctors with four wheel drive vehicles to ensure they can get to the scene of emergencies quickly and safely.

The charity currently has a network of 10 doctors and consultants in emergency medicine who volunteer to respond to serious and life-threatening incidents and illnesses in their areas.

These doctors are based in counties Waterford, Wicklow, Kerry, Mayo, Donegal and Dublin.

The Skoda Kodiaq was chosen by Critical for its road safety and the security it gives the emergency responders as they tend to scenes.

The cars have been customised with ambulance style livery and Class 1 emergency lighting. 

In addition, the rear boot of the vehicles have been redesigned to hold and charge the necessary medical equipment the volunteer medics require to carry out their, at times life-saving work.

Waterford based doctors, Paul Campbell and Daragh Mathews, have now received the new cars.

The pair responded to 151 taskings between them, since July 2023 and they included call-outs to incidents of cardiac arrest, road traffic collisions and farm accidents.

Dr Campbell joined the charity last year. The Tyrone native has been working as a GP in Waterford City since 2012 and also recently completed a Masters in Pre-Hospital Emergency Medicine, from UCD.

Dr Mathews, who joined Critical in 2021, is a Specialist Registrar in Emergency Medicine at University Hospital Waterford.

The Chief Executive Officer of Critical, David Tighe, spoke about the overall service provided by the likes of Dr Campbell and Dr Matthews and he outlined the importance having the new vehicles.

“Our responders are providing a valuable service and we need to ensure that they are able to arrive at the scene of an incident quickly and safely,” he said.

“The new vehicles that we have chosen have been designed to the highest standard and give additional security to our responders,” he added.

“The rear boot has been fully customised to hold all the medical equipment that may be required while keeping everything on charge so it’s ready at a moment’s notice.” 

Mr Tighe paid tribute to the people who support the charity and volunteers through sponsorship and fundraising.

“It is thanks to donations from members of the public, corporate donations and community fundraisers that we are able to upgrade our vehicles and equipment so that our doctors and responders from Waterford and across the country are able to make a difference when it matters most,” he said.

Dr Campbell also highlighted the significance of having the new vehicles.

“Every minute counts when someone suffers a trauma or suddenly falls seriously ill,” he said.

“The new cars are very impressive; our medical equipment is now easier to find and there is no risk of batteries failing,” he added.

“We now have top of the range defibrillators that can be used in confined spaces and allow us to monitor or shock a patient from up to 10 metres away.” Dr Campbell said cardiac arrests, chest pain and strokes are very common calls for the medical professionals involved with the charity in addition to being tasked to road traffic collisions.

“However, since last year I’ve been able to attend multiple trauma cases, falls from heights, farming incidents and even dog attacks,” he said.

“It is important for me to be able to give back to my local community in Dunmore East, Waterford City and surrounding areas, volunteering with Critical allows me to do that and is very rewarding,” he said.

The running costs of Dr Campbell’s emergency vehicle will continue to be sponsored by the local Centra store in Dunmore East, in memory of local woman Susan O’Donoghue who was assisted by the service in August.

For more information about the Critical charity or to make a donation visit https://criticalcharity.ie/