The National Ambulance Service is being called on to respond to reports of ongoing shortages in emergency cover in rural parts of Clare.
An ambulance had to be sent 50 kilometres to East Clare on Wednesday after paramedics based in Scarriff were sent to a call in on the Dock Road in Limerick.
Emergency services were alerted after a woman in her sixties reported severe shortness of breath and a unit was sent from Ennis, a forty minute drive away.
A rapid response vehicle was also sent to the scene after the woman's condition began to deteriorate, following which she was transported to the local GAA pitch and taken by air ambulance to University Hospital Limerick.
Speaking before this latest incident came to light, Clare Fine Gael TD Joe Carey told us that he's happy with cover in Clare but believes the National Ambulance Service should now make a statement regarding the ongoing crisis:
Clare's Fianna Fáil TD has described the need to take units out of Clare units to cover other areas in the Mid-West as innappropriate.
Timmy Dooley believes there's no doubt that the shortage of twenty ambulance staff in Clare, coupled with shortages elsewhere, are "no doubt putting lives at risk".
Deputy Dooley has been telling me that there is an immediate need to increase staff numbers to an appropriate level
