Ambulance service to provide intransit emergency medical care

When citizens call an ambulance, they can now expect to be provided with emergency medical care while intransit, in addition to transportation to a health centre or hospital.

Yesterday, four ambulances valued at XCD$500,000 were handed over to the Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment yesterday by the Embassy of the Republic of China on Taiwan.

During remarks at the handing over ceremony at the site of the old Treasury building, Minister of Health, Wellness and the Environment Luke Browne said in an effort to modernize the health care system, the Ministry is moving away from patient transport to emergency medical ambulances.

“In other words, gone are the days when we say that the only thing that should be in an ambulance is a driver, and you send it to pick up someone wherever an incident might have occurred and you bring them as quickly as possible….No! We want to have some capacity on board itself, capacity in the form of equipment, capacity in the form of human resources to take care of those individuals in transit,” Browne stated.

The Minister said the ambulances will be dispatched with a driver, a male attendant, a registered nurse or nursing assistant and a doctor, depending on the nature of the call.

He also stated that the dispatching and receiving facility would have all received training at varying levels of emergency care.

The ambulances have been assigned to the Chateaubelair hospital, the Georgetown hospital, the Sandy Bay clinic and the Stubbs polyclinic, which was chosen because of its proximity to the Argyle International Airport.

The ambulance previously located at the Chateaubelair hospital will be transferred to the Barrouallie Polyclinic and the one which was at the Georgetown hospital will be transferred to Union Island.

“I don’t ever want in this discussion for us to believe that we are forgetting the Grenadines and focusing on the mainland,” the Minister said.

The ambulances were purchased from the Civil Development Programme (CVD), which is a collaboration between the Government of St Vincent and the Grenadines and the Government of the Republic of China on Taiwan.

Also speaking at the ceremony, health planner David Latchman noted that an allocation for the purchase of the ambulances was made in 2015.

He stated that some issues had been indentified with the Toyota Hiace ambulances currently in use, such as the inability to traverse village roads because of the width of the vehicle and the fact they were so light, they sometimes got stuck when they made it down these village roads.

“So, we were forced to look at some other types of vehicles, especially for the rural areas. What we came up with was the four-wheel-drive versions of the Toyotas, in an effort to keep the fleet… of Toyotas,” he stated.

Latchman noted that the Ministry will be holding defensive driving training courses, as well as training in basic life support for ambulance drivers.

“So, not only would the persons be better drivers and be able to manoeuvre through the traffic better…they would also be able to provide some type of support to the nurses and physicians that would be in the health facility.”

Ambassador of the Republic of China on Taiwan Bah-Shun Ger said over the years Taiwan has assisted SVG in the areas of education, agriculture, infrastructure and health, but in recent years, health has become a top priority.

He said that he knows that the staff will make the best use of the ambulances and the advanced medical equipment which it contains to provide the best medical care to the people of SVG.

The ambulances are fitted with: anti-lock braking system, dual air conditioning, fog lamps, power mirror, power steering, power window, side step, a panel separating the driver and the patient cabin, hand wash sink, semi-automatic oxygen interchange with alarm, FRP complete interior body, emergency warning Xenon strobe light with siren, front over-rider with emergency warning LED light side, emergency warning light side signal with spot light, aluminum trolley stretcher, humidifier with flow meter 20 liter oxygen cylinder, blood pressure meter, double gauge oxygen regulator humidifier, flow meter and mask for 20-40 litre oxygen cylinder, wall outlet with quick disconnect, air ventilation, ceiling utility set, IV stand, SMD fluorescent light, LED light and air vent, 12 V DC plug socket board, FRP stand control set for emergency warning light, siren and amplifier, emergency switch, fire extinguisher, digital clock, power inverter 12VDC/220VDC, FRP built-in furniture and cabinet, extended front seat and an extended side cabinet underneath for an extra bed.