The Emergency Motorcycle Response Unit: You can't help but notice them. At first glance you might have thought they were Garda motorbikes, but closer inspection reveals yellow and green markings rather than the yellow and blue of the Garda bikes.
These are the Emergency Motorcycle Response Unit (EMRU) bikes of the Eastern Region Ambulance Service. The bikes are the well-known 650cc Honda Deauvilles, which are also used by the Garda as station bikes but with bigger panniers and higher, touring screen.
The EMRU bikes carry the same range of equipment as an ambulance, apart from stretchers. The job is to get skilled assistance to a patient in the fastest possible time.
The EMRU concept was introduced in the Eastern Region in June 2001 and draws on the experience of similar units in cities in Britain and across Europe. Initially units were centred in the Loughlinstown area, covering Dún Laoghaire towards the city centre and along the N11 into north Wicklow.
Another unit was centred in Tallaght covering the M50 and responding to calls in west and north Dublin, and north Kildare.
Today the four machines which make up this unit are centred at Leopardstown with easy access to the M50 and N11.
Whereas conventional ambulances tend to be based at various locations, commonly the major local hospitals where they wait for a call out, the EMRU bikes continually patrol a particular area.
Such cruising can at times mean that a bike is at its furthest point away from an incident, but 91 per cent of the time it can reach an incident well-ahead of an ambulance.
Generally speaking, the bike has an advantage over an ambulance of between five and seven minutes. Anyone who has had a heart attack and survived will know that seconds can be the difference between life and death.
About 31 per cent of situations dealt with by the EMRU bikes relate to reports of a person having collapsed. Road accidents account for 18 per cent of calls, medical emergencies 16 per cent, cardiac incidents 11 per cent, and surgical emergencies 10 per cent. The balance is made up of trauma, maternity and other incidents.
Their ambulance colleagues work as two-person teams, but EMRU riders must work alone and must be advanced emergency medical technicians or paramedics. They also have to be highly-trained motorcyclists.
The training course, based on internationally accepted best practice, is similar to the standard Garda motorcycle course which demands a very high standard of roadcraft.
At the heart of all such training is the understanding that the rider must respond rapidly and efficiently to an incident within safe limits and without causing or becoming involved in another incident on the way.
The Honda Deauville has, according to chief ambulance officer Pat McCreanor, been an excellent choice for the service. They are equipped with highly sophisticated Sonic communications enabling the rider to stay in constant contact with control even when away from the bike.
There is no question but that the EMRU bikes have proved their worth. In terms of cardiac failure alone it's reckoned that today there are at least 8 people alive and well who would not have made it without the help of an EMRU rider.
Hopefully you will never need one. But if you do, let's hope enough resources will have been allocated to ensure that one is nearby.
TECH SPEC
The Honda NT650V Deauville used by the EMRU
ENGINE: 647cc liquid-cooled, 52º V-twin, 4-stroke, 6 valve SOHC
TRANSMISSION: 5-speed gearbox, shaft drive
POWER: 55bhp @ 7,750 rpm
TORQUE: 41 ft lbs @ 6,250 rpm
MAX SPEED: 185km/h (115mph)
WEIGHT: 228 kgs
SEAT HEIGHT: 814mm
FUEL CAPACITY: 19.5 litres
CONSUMPTION: 61 mpg