A NEW college for the training of ambulance personnel has just been opened by the Health Service Executive (HSE) in Ballinasloe, Co Galway.
Some 32 recruits have commenced a nine-month training programme on the campus and are due to graduate next year.
Their graduation will be welcomed by those working in the ambulance service across the State who have complained of significant staffing shortages in a number of areas.
Pat Hanafin, chairman of the Ambulance Association of Ireland, claimed last October that the lives of ambulance drivers and the patients they were transporting were being put at risk because staffing shortages in the service meant many drivers were exhausted behind the wheel.
He also said the shortages meant ambulances at some stations were being left unmanned.
The HSE said it took the decision to open the new Galway campus to increase the number of new recruits nationally as it continues to develop the national ambulance service.
It added that there had been a capital investment of €250,000 in the Ballinasloe college.
The new facility is an expansion of the Dublin-based National Ambulance Service College which has been training a range of personnel, including emergency medical technicians, paramedics and advanced paramedics since 1986. The college is linked to UCD.
Welcoming the new recruits, director of the National Ambulance College Macartan Hughes said the new campus in the west not only allows the college to expand the number of new recruits, but it also provides huge potential for continual and advanced training to be delivered across two sites, in addition to the training provided at local level by in-service training officers.
The Ballinasloe campus will also be used to support the activities of other organisations and individuals that provide emergency care.
The development comes just two weeks before a planned strike by 1,200 ambulance personnel over the HSE's recent decision to sign contracts with three private ambulance service providers. Their strike is due to begin on April 7th.
The HSE has said private contracts existed for providing patient transport for many years and the work given to private companies represents less than 4 per cent of the total budget of the national ambulance service.
It added that the investment in the Ballinasloe training facility demonstrates its commitment to continue to develop the public ambulance service.