Critical announces new CEO
A Red Cross honouree who attended the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 has been appointed the new CEO of Critical.
David Tighe has more than 30 years experience in media and communications in Ireland and the United Kingdom.
He spent seven years at Limerick’s Live 95 as programme director and CEO at the station.
Since then, he has held senior positions at Global Media and Entertainment, Bauer Media Group and was named Belfast Chamber Business Leader of the Year 2021. David graduated with a MSc in Senior Leadership from De Montfort University in 2022.
He was a volunteer with the British Red Cross’ Fire and Emergency Support Service for four years and received the Dunant Award for attending the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017. He also volunteered as an emergency responder with the Irish Coast Guard.
He said: “It is an honour to be appointed CEO of Critical and I am committed to expanding our network of emergency responders to even more communities across Ireland. Collaboration is at the heart of pre-hospital emergency medicine. It is most effective when the emergency services, critical care doctors and first responders work closely together.
“The care a person receives in the minutes after they fall ill or get seriously injured can ultimately be the difference between life and death.”
He added: “It’s incredible to see the impact that volunteer responders can have in an emergency.
“I saw it in Grenfell and we witnessed it in Creeslough when our volunteer doctors raced to the scene. Every day our volunteers are responding to cardiac arrests, collisions and other life threatening emergencies.
“Their equipment is entirely funded by donations and fundraisers carried out by members of the public and we are very grateful.”
Last year, the Irish Community Air Ambulance announced that it was changing its name to Critical and that it was stepping back from the provision of its helicopter emergency medical service to focus on expanding its network of volunteer emergency medical responders into more communities across the country. The charity was established in 2009 as Irish Community Rapid Response, and in 2019 it successfully launched Ireland’s first and only charity Air Ambulance, from Rathcoole near Millstreet.
Critical has more than 70 medical responders made up of emergency medical technicians (EMTs), paramedics and other qualified personnel.
A partnership with the National Ambulance Service sees NAS staff off-duty responders volunteering with Critical to respond to potentially life-threatening emergencies in their local communities.