Ireland’s Leading Volunteer Emergency Medical Response Charity CRITICAL is the largest Volunteer Emergency Medical Response charity in Ireland.
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), paramedics, 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
31/10/2025
This Sunday something AEDventurous is happening at the Castle Hotel in Macroom... 👻
Follow the clues, discover hidden surprises near life-saving defibrillators, and enjoy an adventure of frights, fun, and community spirit.
Perfect for families, friends, and little adventurers alike — all while raising funds to support your local CRITICAL Community First Responders!
This Saturday come along to Killavullen Community Hall in Cork for a fundraiser in support of CRITICAL. Enjoy some refreshments, great company and the chance to win fantastic raffle prizes! ☕🎁
This special event is organised by Jim and Hilary O’Kelly. Earlier this year, Jim was a beneficiary of CRITICAL's work and you can read his inspiring story on our website.
All proceeds will go directly to CRITICAL, helping to support life-saving emergency responders in communities across Ireland.
CRITICAL CHARITY HONOURED BY AMERICAN CHAMBER FOR LIFE-SAVING COMMUNITY IMPACT
We were delighted to be recognised by the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland and have been named the winner of the 2025 Mid-West Region Cairdeas Award.
The award was accepted by David Tighe, CEO of CRITICAL and Jim O’Kelly from Killavullen in North Cork who told attendees that CRITICAL is the reason he is alive today. He suffered a heart attack on Easter Sunday and Edward Walsh, a volunteer responder with the charity, was one of the first people at the scene.
Edward’s emergency rapid response vehicle is equipped with an ECG Monitor enabling him to determine quickly how serious Jim’s condition was and alert ambulance control. It meant when the ambulance arrived, they were able to bring Jim immediately from his home to the Cath Lab at Cork University Hospital to have a stent placed to open the blocked artery in his heart.
We are deeply honoured to have been chosen by Team Hannah, who climbed Croagh Patrick in memory of Hannah Frawley and raised an incredible €24,500 for CRITICAL.
Thank you for being such an inspiring force for good. We are forever grateful for the incredible impact you’ve made ❤️
It’s the support from communities like yours that fuels our mission.
23/10/2025
This day last week was ❤️
A huge thank you to our amazing volunteers from Critical CFR - Carrick on Suir for providing CPR demonstrations, and to everyone who stopped by to say hello, take part or make a donation.
We’re so grateful for your support and for your enthusiasm to learn lifesaving skills! 🙌
16/10/2025
CRITICAL CHARITY APPOINTS NEW MEDICAL DIRECTOR
CRITICAL, Ireland’s leading emergency medical charity, has appointed Dr Mark Ruddy as its new medical director. The Wicklow-based GP has been volunteering with the organisation since 2023.
The charity has also received accreditation from the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council (PHECC), the independent body that regulates the emergency medical service profession in Ireland.
CRITICAL has a network of more than 300 volunteer responders active in 21 counties across Ireland and has responded to over 1,300 calls since the start of this year.
David Tighe, CEO of CRITICAL, said, “Mark Ruddy has been an integral part of the CRITICAL team since he started volunteering with us in April 2023 and we are delighted that he now joins us as medical director.”
Critical CFR - Carrick on Suir will be providing CPR demonstrations and answering any questions you might have about Community First Responder groups this Saturday 18th October at Supervalu Carrick on Suir 📍
Come by and say hello if you're in the area! 👋
💓 We’re excited for Restart a Heart Day! 💓
Join us this Saturday at SuperValu 10-4pm
Critical - Emergency Medical Response fans Carrick Davins GAA Club Carrick-on-Suir Business Association Explore Carrick-on-Suir Carrick Swan Hurling, Football & Camogie Club St. Molleran’s GAA & Camogie Club Carrick Utd AFC Ltd
15/10/2025
The McMahon family’s journey is one of gratitude and giving back 🙏
Since September 6th they have been taking part in Ready, Set, Respond! and fundraising to support the charity that first launched the service that was there when they needed it most.
So far: 1,329.3 km and €13,200 raised!
Goal: €15,000... Let’s help them get there! ❤️
Get behind them: Donate. Share. Show your support. Together, we can make every second count.
Last Friday morning, PJ Coogan spoke with Edward Walsh, our Head of Operations, and Patrick McCarthy, Coordinator of CRITICAL CFR Youghal. They discussed the incredible local First Responders who attended three emergencies on their very first day back in action.
Listen to Youghal's Saviors Are Neighbors With Pagers As CRITICAL Relaunches Community First Responders from Cork's 96fm Opinion Line. PJ talks to Edward Walsh from CRITICAL and Patrick McCarthy, Coordinator of Youghal CFR, about the First Responders who saw 3 emergencies on their first day back. Se...
10/10/2025
💥 Our amazing participants have smashed the 1,308km goal and have now gone more than four times the distance!
Together, we’ve covered over 6,000km and there’s still one week left to reach our fundraising goal.
We’ve proven we can reach the distance, now let’s cross that fundraising finish line too! 💛
Volunteers from the Community First Responder group in Youghal, Co. Cork have responded to 23 incidents in just four weeks, including three emergency calls on their very first day back in operation.
Re-established this year with the support of CRITICAL and the National Ambulance Service, the group’s 20 dedicated volunteers are once again helping to save lives across Youghal, Killeagh, Ardmore, and Clashmore.
👏 A huge thank you to all involved for their incredible dedication to the community.
Read the full story on our website.
Volunteers from the Community First Responder (CFR) group in Youghal, Co Cork, have responded to 23 incidents during its first four weeks in operation including three emergency calls the day it went live. The group was formed in 2014 and responded to an average of 360 calls each year, however, it wa...
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Irish Community Rapid Response - By Land and Air was established in 2008 to deliver professional pre hospital care directly to the site of medical emergencies throughout Ireland. Our volunteer doctors have made a significant difference while working in association with the National Ambulance Service (NAS) when responding to 999/112 emergency calls.
Building on our experience and success we launced Ireland's first charity Air Ambulance/ Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) in July 2019. In our first year of service we responded to over 520 taskings through the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC). The NEOC deploys the Air Ambulance as an asset of the NAS, in response to 999/112 calls.
Based out of Rathcool in North Cork, the Irish Community Air Ambulance provides a vital service to people experiencing time critical life threatening emergencies, bringing an Advanced Paramedic to them within minutes of the inital call to 999/112.
The main call outs include Cardiac Arrest, Road Traffic Incidents, Stroke, Fall from Height, Farm and Equestrian related injuries.
As a charity, we rely on public donations to fund the costs of keeping the helicopter in the air.
Please contact us on info@icrr.ie if you would like to know more, or if you would like to hold a fundraiser. We will get back to you ASAP.
