It’s reported a Tipperary based ambulance paramedic was left stranded at a Laois filling station after a disagreement with a colleague who drove off.
The alleged incident controllers forced to send another ambulance 50 kilometres to collect him.
As a result North Tipperary was left without one of its three ambulances for several hours while the area’s rapid response unit was also off the road.
According to reports today this incident happened last Saturday night as two Tipp based NAS paramedics were returning to their Clonmel base after a patient transfer to Dublin.
It’s claimed that one paramedic who was the passenger expressed concern about his partners driving in poor weather conditions and asked them repeatedly to slow down.
The driving paramedic is reported to have pulled off the motorway, into a filling station in Portlaoise and dropped the crew member off before driving away again. This meant, with just one crew member on board, the ambulance was not available for emergency calls.
After the paramedic was dropped off in Portlaoise, an ambulance was dispatched from Roscrea in Tipperary to collect him, taking another emergency ambulance and an advanced paramedic out of service.
The HSE has not answered questions in relation to the matter but a spokesperson said the National Ambulance Service has confirmed that an incident arose between two NAS staff at their end of the shift and local management was working to resolve the issue.
