Creeslough Paramedic Wins Inaugural Award Named after Rescue 116 Pilot Capt Dara Fitzpatrick

10th March 2023

The late Dara Fitzpatrick who is honoured in the name of the new paramedic award. Capt Fitzpatrick lost her life during the Rescue 116 helicopter crash off the Mayo coast in March 2017. Dara Fitzpatrick is pictured above in June 1994 - then a 22-year-old helicopter co-pilot with four years of flying experience already under her belt Credit: Bob Bateman

A new award named after Rescue 116 pilot Capt Dara Fitzpatrick has been presented to a paramedic who was one of the first responders at the explosion in Creeslough, Co Donegal, last October.

As The Irish Examiner reports, paramedic Frances Griffin was selected for the award initiated by the Irish Paramedicine Education and Research Network (IPERN) at the University of Limerick.

Griffin, who is from Creeslough, was one of the first on the scene after the explosion, which claimed ten lives. She was involved in removing the most seriously injured person from the rubble, and treated and stabilised another seriously injured person. Both of the casualties survived.

Griffin, who works with the National Ambulance Service, was nominated for the award by her colleague, Roddy Smith.

As Afloat reported earlier, also nominated was RNLI Sligo lifeboat helm Eithne Davis who has launched on service 164 times and has been directly involved in saving nine lives while assisting in bringing 131 people at sea to safety.

Eunice Langley, who founded Defibrillation and Resuscitation Access (DARA) in 2007.
Finola Lafferty, who was nominated for her leadership in overseas deployments and compassion in civilian care during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Michelle O’Toole, an advanced paramedic, was nominated for her work on supporting the mental health of first responders and their families.

The award ceremony took place on International Women’s Day, and it was presented to Ms Griffin by Capt Fitzpatrick’s sister, Orla. Just 16 per cent of advanced paramedics are female.

Capt Dara Fitzpatrick, Capt Mark Duffy, winch crew Ciarán Smith and Paul Ormsby lost their lives when their Sikorsky S-92 helicopter crashed at Blackrock island off the north Mayo coast on March 14th, 2017.

“Captain Fitzpatrick was an inspirational female leader in her role with the Irish Coast Guard — she left behind a powerful legacy which has inspired me and my female colleagues in pre-hospital care,” Griffin said.

IPERN chairwoman Niamh Cummins described Griffin’s nomination as “particularly powerful” out of the “five amazing finalists”.

“She’s just been fabulous across her career, she’s done so much work in the community and supporting her colleagues and particularly Creeslough,” she said.

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