The Irish Community Air Ambulance has responded
to the highest number of road traffic collisions in a single month since the organisation first launched. The Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) Air Ambulance was tasked to 15 separate crashes during May.
The increase in crashes has pushed the number of call outs for the helicopter up by 14% when compared to April. The service is also facing increasing fuel costs.
The helicopter responded to 205 incidents in the first five months of this year. There were 48 taskings in May alone, up from 42 during April. The call outs during May also included six farming or equestrian incidents. Cork accounted for one in four of the calls followed by Kerry, Tipperary, Clare, Waterford, Wexford, Limerick and Carlow. In total, 17 people were airlifted to hospitals in Cork and Limerick during May.