CRITICAL volunteers provide pre-hospital emergency care to critically ill and injured patients in rural and urban areas across the country. Initially founded in 2009 as Irish Community Rapid Response, CRITICAL now has a growing network of volunteer responders operating in 20 counties in cities, towns, and villages. With over 160 medical volunteers, including emergency medical technicians (EMTs), p
aramedics, consultants and other qualified medical professionals, CRITICAL works in partnership with the National Ambulance Service (NAS) to respond to life-threatening emergencies. CRITICAL envisions an Ireland where communities and those living in it have equal opportunity to receive a rapid medical response in the event of a medical emergency, injury, accident, or trauma, no matter the location. We have teams of experienced Volunteer Emergency Medical Doctors, Medical Responders, and Community Responders in communities all over Ireland, with our medical response network steadily growing. We supply emergency medical response vehicles in key areas to experienced advanced or critical care doctors. These vehicles are kitted out with specialist medical equipment including defibrillators, chest compression systems and suction units as well as advanced medical and trauma kits. This allows our volunteer doctors to perform complex and often lifesaving medical procedures, wherever and whenever they’re called upon. We have ambitious plans to further expand this network. Our ground teams responded to more than 1,800 incidents over the last three years alone, working in partnership with the emergency services to give people the very best chance of survival when they find themselves seriously ill or injured. We fundraise to kit out our volunteers so they can continue their life saving work. It costs an average of €25,000 to establish an Advanced level Volunteer Doctor in the community and €120,000 to put a new Critical Care response vehicle on the road. Each lifesaving emergency backpack that we give to a responder in a community like yours costs and average of €1,500 to supply. With your help we will be able to expand this service to more locations across Ireland. Irish Community Rapid Response CLG T/A CRITICAL | Registered Charity No (RCN): 20070762