DUBLIN BUS HAS said it’s examining CCTV footage after a mother said her three-year-old daughter had been jabbed by a syringe on a bus yesterday.
Stacie Zambra told the Irish Mirror she had been with her daughter on the bus yesterday afternoon. As she glanced back from the window, she said she saw her daughter Alysha with blood pumping out of her finger and “the needle on the ground”.
An ambulance was called, and the toddler was taken to hospital in Crumlin for tests.
They’re still waiting for the results to come back, Stacie told the paper.
Dublin Bus confirmed in a statement that “an incident occurred on Route 13 travelling inbound yesterday afternoon at approximately 14:00 involving a young passenger”.
“Emergency services attended the scene and the passenger was taken to Crumlin Children’s Hospital. The incident is currently under internal investigation, CCTV from the bus has been downloaded.”
The company added:
“Dublin Bus has very strict protocols and procedures in place, when dealing with incidents such as this, which the driver followed.
“He immediately requested the emergency services, informed Dublin Bus control centre, the bus was taken out of service and returned to its depot to be examined and cleaned. Passengers were transferred onto another service.
“Dublin Bus also has strict maintenance and cleaning procedures in place internally. All protocols and procedures are regularly reviewed.
The company said in “incidents of this nature are a rare occurrence and the overall level of anti-social behaviour is low and has decreased over the last number of years”.
“This is due to a series of initiatives which have taken place; designed to improve safety for both customers and employees.”
Reaction
Tony Duffin of the Ana Liffey Drug Project, who has been campaigning for the introduction of drug injection centres in Dublin, said it underlined the fact that the city has a serious injecting drug problem.
He said the incident involving the three-year-old was ”disturbing news” adding:
“It is important that the child and her family receive the supports they need at this time, and hopefully all will be well.
“The risk of contracting a blood borne virus from a needle stick injury is low, but as the father of three children, I understand that this is cold comfort when faced with the uncertainty of waiting for test results.”
Duffin added:
“The reality is that drug use is not going to go away, and we need to implement policies that work and are effective in reducing issues like unsafe disposal.”
He said the proposals to bring in injection centres were evidence-based and had been shown “to reduce the incidence of unsafely disposed drug paraphernalia”.
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