A 999 call for emergency medical treatment
five minutes away from the biggest ambulance base in Cork from where a soccer
game was taking place on Saturday afternoon last was responded to by the
Ambulance base in Dungarvan, some 80km away.
Craig Linehan was injured at Ballyphehane
Park on Saturday afternoon last while playing in an under 15 soccer game.
The first of a number of 999 calls for a HSE
ambulance was put in at 1-35pm, five minutes after the player was injured and
follow up calls were made at 1-52pm, 2-18pm and 2-31pm when no ambulance was arriving
from the HSE Ambulance Kinsale Road base which is based just five minutes from
the ground where the game was taking place.
It has emerged that an Ambulance was dispatched
to the scene from Dungarvan to attend the player, but was stood down on-route
to the scene when an ambulance from Cork arrived at the scene at 2-50pm, 75
minutes after the first 999 call was made.
Kilreen Celtic coach Mark Towler whose club
were involved in Saturday’s game has told Red FM’s The Neil Prenderville Show
that that the boy’s parents were so upset at the delay getting
an ambulance to treat the teenager that at one point, one parent got into his
car and drove after an ambulance which was spotted passing on a nearby road.
“We thought at the start that Craig had dislocated his hip. We didn’t know
if there was other damage caused. It could even have been a bad fracture,” said
Mr Towler, but it later emerged that he sustained a
severe soft-tissue injury but will make a full recovery.
A HSE spokesperson confirmed that an emergency
call was made to the National Ambulance Service at 1.36pm last Saturday, but
that all resources in the local area were engaged on other calls.
