Air ambulance testament to '˜passion' of tragic doctor

The decision to proceed with an air ambulance service for the Province stands as a 'fitting tribute' to a doctor who had campaigned for the project before his death.

Both the leaders of the DUP and TUV said that the announcement, which has long been in the pipeline, brought to mind the work of tragic Dr John Hinds.

Newtownards-born Dr Hinds died aged 35 on July 4, 2015, after a motorbike accident on the Skerries racetrack, north of Dublin.

He had pressed for the creation of a specialist helicopter service manned by a physician and paramedic, capable of giving “advanced care” en route to hospital, instead of simply using a general coastguard craft which is merely “a flying platform to carry a patient”.

READ DR HINDS’ FULL OBITUARY HERE.

However, criticism has been made of the timing and manner of the announcement, which appears to have emerged from Health Minister Michelle O’Neill via her own political Twitter account – one day before Northern Irish voters go to the polls.

There was no announcement on her departmental website, or on its official Twitter account.

But the Sinn Fein northern leader’s Twitter account said: “Delighted to announce doctor led HEMS-Air Ambulance service will go ahead. It will be based in MLK & hopes to be operational in 10-12 weeks”.

HEMS stands for Helicopter Emergency Medical Service, and MLK for Maze Long Kesh.

DUP leader Arlene Foster described it as “wonderful news”.

She added: “Today’s news follows on from the announcement I made in November, along with the then deputy first minister, that a primary helicopter would be based at the Maze Long Kesh site.”

She added that a secondary helicopter will be based in her own constituency, at St Angelo Airport.

She also said: “It is down to the hard work of volunteers and campaigners and on this day we also remember Dr Hinds who would have been thrilled by today’s announcement.”

TUV leader Jim Allister said: “This is a good news story for Northern Ireland and a fitting tribute to Dr John Hinds who campaigned so passionately on the issue before his untimely death.”

However, he added: “I do think it was an inappropriate way to announce it...

“The mode of it shouldn’t have been as political as that.”

In response to Ms O’Neill’s online message, one Twitter user asked: “Isn’t this announcement a breach of ‘purdah’ rules about pre-election announcements?” Another said simply: “They say timing is everything.”