Yesterday morning’s fatal crash near the Vale country club on the A494 east of Rhuthun highlights an issue about ambulance response times in the event of crashes or critical illness.
There’s no suggestion in this case that an ambulance arrived late, by the way. However, Rhuthun has an ambulance station in School Lane, yet its emergency ambulance is invariably stationed in a lay-by off the A525 Rhuthun to Dinbych road. This is so that it can serve both towns.
A good use of a scarce resource you might think but is this acceptable in terms of a 999 call? It adds seven to ten minutes to the response time, whether this is to attend a scene in Dinbych or Rhuthun. This gets longer when the call comes from, say, Bodfari near Dinbych or Llanfair DC near Rhuthun. And if you find yourself in need of an ambulance in, say, Cerrigydrudion, geography is not on your side as you have to wait half an hour just from Rhuthun without the vehicle coming from Llanrhaeadr. Yet, larger urban areas see an ambulance within minutes.
There’s no suggestion in this case that an ambulance arrived late, by the way. However, Rhuthun has an ambulance station in School Lane, yet its emergency ambulance is invariably stationed in a lay-by off the A525 Rhuthun to Dinbych road. This is so that it can serve both towns.
A good use of a scarce resource you might think but is this acceptable in terms of a 999 call? It adds seven to ten minutes to the response time, whether this is to attend a scene in Dinbych or Rhuthun. This gets longer when the call comes from, say, Bodfari near Dinbych or Llanfair DC near Rhuthun. And if you find yourself in need of an ambulance in, say, Cerrigydrudion, geography is not on your side as you have to wait half an hour just from Rhuthun without the vehicle coming from Llanrhaeadr. Yet, larger urban areas see an ambulance within minutes.