AS the county battled the big freeze last week volunteers from Southern 4x4 Response shone in the snow and ice providing invaluable help transporting food, medicine, and even workers in treacherous driving conditions.
Speaking to The Southern Star, chairman of Southern 4x4 Response Conor O’Neill said that not since ‘the Beast from the East’ in 2018 had they seen such a level of disruption due to snow and ice as experienced last week.
‘The voluntary emergency services (VES) play a key role in the response to such emergencies. Typical takings include 4x4 transport of public health and home carers, hospital staff, doctors, medication runs, patient transfers, dialysis and oncology patient trips and responding to emergency calls,’ said Conor.
‘During Storm Emma (in 2018), the VES had only 14 4x4 vehicles available for deployment across the county and demand exceeded the supply. However, the number has since increased through the expansion of existing fleets but more significantly by the formation of Southern 4x4 Response.’
Conor said it is modelled largely on similar such groups operating successfully in the UK and having identified the need, he recruited its first 12 members for training in early 2019. ‘The key to its success is recruiting 4x4 enthusiasts who are willing to participate in training, work as part of a team, follow procedures and operate to safe standard.’
He said the skills of the driver and choice of tyres are far more important than the make and model of vehicle used.
‘Our members use their own vehicles and this has results in a wide variety of makes and models. Most are well suited to transport people in up to 250mm of snow while others with larger tyres and ground clearance can operate to greater depths.’
Conor added that once Met Éireann issues an Orange or Red weather warning all the members go on standby, with wind and rain events far less likely to result in a call-out compared to snow and ice.
‘This snow event was challenging in terms of the availability of our drivers. Few workplaces closed so our drivers had to juggle 4x4 duties with their day jobs. Some volunteered early morning transporting healthcare workers to places like CUH before starting their own jobs. We also had two or three drivers available during the day, while other were available after work.’
Conor said this was their first real test since the group was formed and his team performed admirably.
‘Our phones were monitored 24 hours as we were on standby for An Garda Síochána for emergency calls. Scheduling tasking to ensure all drivers got to rest was critical too in order to ensure we were able to provide the service for a continuous seven days.’
He said the worst hit area with snow were in a line from Listowel through Rathmore and on to Charleville and Fermoy. ‘Our West Cork-based drivers served those areas in addition to carrying out some local taskings in West Cork, bolstering the fine work of the Civil Defence and Irish Red Cross in the area.’
The group is in demobilization mode, cleaning and checking their vehicles and equipment. ‘The lads have earned a good rest and the next such weather event arrives, Southern 4x4 Response will be ready and waiting.’
Conor also got confirmation last week from the HSE that they will reimburse costs incurred carrying out their taskings. A GoFundMe page has also been set up, with almost €2,000 raised so far.
‘This is greatly appreciated and we will use the GoFundMe money to improve our service and capability and offset future fuel costs incurred at volunteering events where reimbursement of costs is not available.’
See ‘Expenses for Southern 4x4 Response Members’ on GoFundMe.
