A LOUTH GAA under-20 hurler, who suffered a serious injury during a game against Fermanagh at Lisbellaw on Sunday, returned home to his county in the back of his parent’s car for treatment after he was informed it could have taken up to two hours for a local ambulance to attend.
During Sunday’s game, a Louth player sustained what appeared to be a serious injury. The decision was taken to contact an ambulance, but they were met with significant waiting times.
“Someone contacted the ambulance and it’s understood that the wait could have been up to two hours long,” a spokesperson for the Fermanagh GAA Under-20 Hurling team explained.
“The cub lay on the ground for around 40 minutes by the side of the field and when the game was finished, the decision was taken to put him into the back of the car and go back home to Louth.
“We had to put down the seats of the car, lift the stretcher up and slide him into the vehicle and they got him sitting up and that’s the way that he headed off with his family back to Louth.”
Major concerns have been raised over the significant waiting times for ambulances in the North.
“We did the best that we could for him,” added the Fermanagh GAA spokesperson.
“We got painkillers for him but he was in massive pain and was in and out of consciousness.
“It didn’t stand well. The cub was in desperate pain and it knocked the stuffing out of both teams.”
Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA, Áine Murphy, has called on more support for the service.
“The strain on our Ambulance Service is extremely worrying. Every missed response target means a patient is left waiting in pain, in distress or in life-threatening circumstances,” Ms Murphy said.
In a response, the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service recognised that they’re ‘facing challenges’ across the board.
“NIAS would take this opportunity to apologise to any patient, from any area, who believes they may have waited longer for an ambulance response than they would have expected. We are sorry for the delay in providing such a response. It is not the service that we want to provide,” a spokesperson said.
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