According to various reports a seriously ill man believed to be in his 70s who was being taken to hospital by ambulance has sadly died today after the emergency vehicle unexpectedly broke down on a motorway in Co Clare.
It is believed that the ambulance service had responded to a 999 call in the Ennis area at approximately 6.20am and had being transporting the unidentified patient to University Hospital Limerick when all of a sudden the ambulance which is thought to be 4 years old broke down.
Reports say the tragic incident happened at around 7.45am approximately an hour and half after the emergency call was made. The ambulance is understood to have broken down on the M18 near Shannon. The paramedic who was driving the vehicle quickly realised that the ambulance was losing power and somehow managed to make a safe stop on the hard shoulder, the driver then quickly alerted the ambulance control centre report the break down.
Meanwhile the second paramedic on board the ambulance continuously battled to resuscitate the elderly man in the back of the ambulance whilst another ambulance was being dispatched to the scene, however the patient who was seriously ill died a short time later.
The National Ambulance Service (NAS) have since released a statement confirming the tragic news, saying they received an emergency call at approximately 06:09am.
“An emergency ambulance and a rapid response vehicle (RRV) with an advanced paramedic on board were immediately dispatched to the incident. Both resources arrived at the scene at 06:19. While on route to UHL, with the patient on board, the ambulance broke down on the M18 at 07:44.” “The NAS National Emergency Operations Centre immediately dispatched an emergency ambulance from Limerick to assist, and arrived at 08:03. “The patient was transferred to the Limerick ambulance and left the scene for UHL at 08:05. The emergency ambulance arrived at UHL at 08.18.”
It is not yet known whether or not the patient died on the roadside or later in hospital, whilst the HSE have refused to confirm or deny that the patient had died citing ‘patient confidentiality.’