Irish Ferries has said it will reconsider its policy of not having defibrillators on board its ships after a man died on one of its Irish Sea services yesterday.
The Polish lorry driver suffered a fatal heart attack on board the 2.45am sailing of the Ulysses from Holyhead to Dublin.
A qualified nurse and another passenger with first aid training administered CPR to the man, but he did not survive the crossing.
Irish Ferries marketing director Tony Kelly said he was "extremely upset" by the incident and he extended the company's gratitude to the two passengers who assisted the man. He said, however, that Irish Ferries did not provide defibrillators because it was not required to do so by international regulation.
An Irish Ferries spokesman said its staff and crew members were trained to the highest standards of health and safety and that it was a matter for the regulatory agencies to set down requirements for specific medical equipment. "Our crew are fully trained to deal with normal emergencies, but naturally there are medical circumstances that are much more serious," he said.
According to Irish Ferries, the health and safety standards of its fleet are regulated by a number of different regulatory bodies. Its spokesman said the Department of Transport and the Marine was the "foremost" regulator of the company.
However, a spokeswoman from the department told The Irish Times that because the Ulysses was registered in Cyprus, its principal regulators were based in that jurisdiction. She said that the department conducts inspections of the Irish Ferries fleet to ensure they meet international health and safety standards, which do not require the vessels to carry a defibrillator on board.
Fine Gael TD and former president of the Irish Medical Organisation, Dr James Reilly, yesterday called on all major public transport operators to take responsibility for installing defibrillators on planes, trains and ferries. "Defibrillators are an invaluable tool in saving the lives of people who have heart attacks in locations where medical intervention may take some time," he said.
Dr Reilly added that the machines were relatively inexpensive at approximately €2,500, but they could be obtained at a lower cost if they were purchased in bulk by public transport companies. He called on the Government to introduce mandatory regulations to require transport companies to provide defibrillators if they did not provide them voluntarily.
In a call made to the RTÉ Liveline programme yesterday afternoon, the nurse who attended the driver on board the Ulysses suggested that the man's life might have been saved with a defibrillator.
Stena Line said it provides defibrillators on board all of its vessels. A spokesman said a large proportion of the staff on each ferry was trained to use the medical equipment. He said that Stena Line is not required to provide defibrillators by its regulator, the Maritime Coastguard Authority, but the authority recommends that all ships should have defibrillators based on a risk assessment.
Mr Kelly said that the "specific, certified training" that was required to operate defibrillators was one of the reasons Irish Ferries had decided not to provide this kind of medical equipment. "It's not about cost," he said.