This January marked another important milestone for Ballinasloe as one group of student paramedics celebrated their graduation while a new cohort began their training at the National Ambulance Service College. It also signals the 18th consecutive academic year of paramedic education in the town. The National Ambulance Service College (NASC) has been based at the Ballinasloe Enterprise Centre since 2008, when it became the second NASC campus to open outside of its original base at St Mary’s Hospital in the Phoenix Park, Dublin. Since then, the Ballinasloe campus has played a key role in expanding national paramedic training while becoming firmly embedded in the local community.
NASC is Ireland’s central training institution for ambulance and paramedic professionals. From Ballinasloe, it delivers degree-level paramedic education, EMT training, and ongoing professional development for serving emergency personnel. The National Ambulance Service operates four college campuses nationally: Tallaght, Ballinasloe, Tullamore, and Cork, with the Ballinasloe campus focusing primarily on paramedic degree programmes, among others. The teaching team at the campus consists of eight clinical tutors and two administrative staff.
All tutors are qualified Advanced Paramedics with extensive frontline experience. Many are also involved in teaching, research, and the ongoing development of paramedicine as a profession
