Ballinasloe is to play host to a new campus of the National Ambulance Service College.

HSE opens new Ambulance Training College. Shane Knox , Ambulance educator, with trainees Eoin Courtney from Merlin Park and Paul Curley Salthill at the new Ambulance Training centre in Ballinasloe. Photo: Andrew Downes

Thirty-two new recruits are to embark on a programme that will culminate in their graduation as paramedics at the end of 2009.

The new facility is an expansion of the Dublin-based National Ambulance Service College, which has been training a range of personnel including emergency medical technicians, paramedics and advanced paramedics since 1986. With a capital investment of €250,000, the new Galway campus is staffed by a team, led by ambulance educator Shane Knox, and including lecturers and trainers from the Dublin college.

The HSE took the decision to open the new campus to increase the number of new recruits nationally as it continues to develop the National Ambulance Service.

The Dublin college operates with the support of University College Dublin (UCD).

The advanced paramedic course and the paramedic up-skilling is provided by the National Ambulance Service College, in partnership with UCD, and the skills of such trained paramedics are already serving many communities across the country. According to the HSE, these skills will be used to provide a modern service for the public and ensure that patients receive the most advanced level of care.

Welcoming the new recruits, the Director of the National Ambulance College, Mr Macartan Hughes said the level of training and education in Ireland now frequently exceeds international norms.

“New recruits today are entering a clinical and educational development process that will offer them opportunities to provide the highest level of pre-hospital emergency care to patients as well as gaining recognised educational awards, eventually up to Masters Degree level.

“This is a hugely significant development for the National Ambulance Service College. The new Galway campus not only allows us to expand the number of new recruits, it also provides huge potential for continual and advanced training to be delivered across two sites, in addition to the training provided at a local level by in-service training officers. The Ballinasloe campus will also be used to support the training of activities of other organisations and individuals that provide emergency care. Such training will include Cardiac First Responder and Emergency First Responder training to a variety of students.

“These advances underline the integral role the National Ambulance Service has in the ongoing development of pre hospital emergency care services. With the increasing importance of immediate and at scene response, our role in linking in with many other healthcare and related professionals is leading to much better outcomes for our patients and, as a result, a much better service for the public.”

Mr Frank McClintock, Head of the HSE National Ambulance Service, added: “The opening of the Galway campus firmly demonstrates the commitment of the HSE to the National Ambulance Service and the potential that we know we can realise in terms of expansion and development of the skills of our personnel and the services they deliver to the public. Our financial investment in this campus and indeed the ongoing financial investment in this service is a very clear signal that this is a service that will continue to develop.”

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