Medical Emergency & First Aid Information – Midwest Campuses

Serious injuries or illness (i.e. Medical Emergencies) will need the attendance of National Ambulance Service to provide safe treatment, transportation and handover to a clinical team at the receiving hospital.

Midwest Campuses have the following systems in place to provide support for medical emergencies occurring on campus:

(i) Student Health Nurse (During Academic Teaching Term only).
(ii) TUS Unit (Departmental) Staff First Aiders.

First Aid

The first aid support systems provided on the Midwest campuses include TUS Unit (e.g. Departmental) staff First Aiders, first aid equipment (First Aid Boxes), the provision of a Student Health Centre staffed by a registered nurse.

For a step-by-step guide on what to do and how to get help, please refer to the information below.

Standard Operating Procedures

Standard Operating Procedure for On Campus Accident/Emergency with No Nurse Onsite

If the nurse is unavailable or not onsite and an on-campus accident/emergency occurs please contact a first aider from the First Aider List associated to your relevant Campus
Lead Caretaker to be informed by a student or staff
Location of accident identified and caretaker available to direct first aider to exact location
Medical bag brought to incident location by caretakers
Caretaker to remain in nearby vicinity of first aider attending to the emergency
Caretaker to have radio connection for further assistance if needed. Only essential information is to be communicated.
If an ambulance is required caretaker is to co-ordinate route of easiest ambulance entry

First Aider or first responder is to assess the situation:

Does it require local first aid treatment such as burn gels, disinfecting an area, a plaster these can be obtained from the medical bag brought by the caretaker?
Most Common Reasons to call ambulance include: Seizure, head injury, chest pain, person is unconscious, severe injury with a lot of pain and cannot be moved, difficulty breathing. If in doubt call an ambulance but must be a warranted reason.

Common Reasons to use a Local Injury Unit in the Nearest Hospital

A common faint generally requires sugar, fresh/cold air and rest. If a faint results in the following a bang to head causing person to have a headache / feels unwell post faint / deep cut on head or face, then self-referral to a local injury unit is advised.
Presentations which may not require an ambulance but rather the ‘patient’ self presents to the Local Injury Unit / Hospital include; Suspected broken bones, sprains, deep cuts and lacerations that may require stitching, minor burns that cannot be treated onsite by first aider, minor head injuries (that is a person that is fully conscious but may have banged head in faint or got hit with object).

Local Injury Unit / Hospitals include:

Limerick – St. John’s Open 8am – 7pm Every Day. TEL: 061 462132
Thurles – Nenagh Hospital Open 8am – 8pm Every Day. TEL: 067 42311
Clonmel – Clonmel Hospital Open 24 Hours Every Day. Tel: 052 6177000
Ennis – Ennis Hospital Open 8am – 8pm Every Day. TEL: 061 462132

If the person who has been treated/assessed has no option of transport to the nearest injury unit/hospital a taxi can be requested to facilitate if required.

Please Note:

In some instances, a Defibrillator or Oxygen cylinder may need to be brought to an emergency.
If any individual collapses onsite and is unresponsive immediately call 999, shout for help from nearest individuals to you, request a defibrillator, ask them to contact nurses, CPR can be commenced immediately if required
Nurses Office Number 061 293106 and 293108
All accidents or incidents requiring an emergency response must be reported to the TUS Health & Safety Officer using the standard Accident Report Form.

Standard Operating Procedure for On Campus Emergencies

Lead Caretaker to be informed by Health Unit or Lead Caretaker to inform Health Unit
Location of accident identified and caretaker available to direct medical staff to exact location
Medical box key available in caretakers’ office and both front and back offices
Medical bag brought to incident location by caretakers
Caretaker to remain in nearby vicinity of medical staff who are attending to the emergency
Caretakers to have radio connection for further assistance of additional caretakers etc if needed. Only essential information is to be communicated.
If an ambulance is required caretakers to co-ordinate route of easiest ambulance entry

Please Note:

In some instances, a Defibrillator or Oxygen cylinder may need to be brought to an emergency.
If any individual collapses onsite and is unresponsive immediately call 999, shout for help from nearest individuals to you, request a defibrillator, ask them to contact nurses, CPR can be commenced immediately if required. Do not wait for nurses to arrive.
All accidents or incidents requiring an emergency response must be reported to the TUS Health & Safety Officer using the standard Accident Report Form.

Nurses Office Numbers: 061 293106 and 061293108