Stroke victim's 40-minute wait for ambulance

A Navan woman who suffered a stroke last Friday had to wait 40 minutes for an ambulance, despite HIQA guidelines that an ambulance should be with a stroke victim within 19 minutes.
The woman is currently very ill in hospital and the delay in her treatment has been strongly condemned by hospital campaigners.
The incident comes as controversy continues to rage about the reduction of ambulance cover in County Meath, with claims that there is only one ambulance available to cover the entire county on certain days.
It is believed the ambulance in question had to come from Drogheda before taking the woman to hospital in Navan.
The incident has been described as extremely shocking by Save Navan Hospital chairman, Deputy Peadar Tóibín, who was highly critical of the delay. He said the woman is currently very ill.
“The Health Information and Quality Authority target is that an ambulance is with a stroke victim within 19 minutes, but it was 40 minutes before an ambulance came from Drogheda,” he said.
He added that he was deeply concerned about the ambulance service in the north-east and was aware of another recent incident in which an accident victim in the south of the county had to wait for an ambulance to come from Ardee.