Sir, - A number of recent accident reports in your paper contain an inaccuracy that your reporters and the public at large are, most likely, blissfully unaware of. There are no paramedics on our roads.
Dublin Fire Brigade and EHB ambulance personnel have largely been trained to emergency medical technician standard, which falls a fair distance short of a paramedic's qualification. Even at that, they cannot employ their skills fully due to the medico-legal stance taken by the Department of Health who will not license them to carry out certain life-saving procedures. For this same reason, the Department is dragging its heels on the introduction of paramedics.
In today's society, we sue medical practitioners as readily as we seek their help. Ultimately, we are to blame for the absence of paramedics on our roads. As long as we use the law as a stick to beat our medics with when the outcome is not to our liking, we will not receive the best in emergency care. The courts, lawyers, Government and public must change their attitudes or we will continue to see a disproportionately high level of death on our roads. - Yours, etc.
Philip Little, Arklow, Co. Wicklow.