‘Health service satisfactory but more training needed for ambulance staff’

With the 2007 cricket world cup fast approaching the Ministry of Health believes that there is satisfactory state of readiness in the area of health services in St Vincent and the Grenadines. One area of concern that remains though is the need for the local ambulance staff to be more equipped in the area of mass causality management.

To this end, in collaboration with the Local Organization Committee (LOC) of World Cup, West Indies 2007, the health ministry has ongoing training sessions in mass causality management.{{more}}

Minister of Health Dr Douglas Slater recently told SEARCHLIGHT that this training is high on the agenda for the Ministry of Health, not just for World Cup 2007 but beyond.

“We need some improvement in that area; with or without World Cup there is need for training in the management of mass causality, including our ambulance staff,” says Minister Slater.

Faced with the health challenges that come along with a mass gathering such as the Cricket World Cup, Dr Slater believes that if the health sector could handle carnival and such like then the World Cup challenges should be handled adequately.

“The demands and specific requirements made from the international bodies may be different but as for the crowd and the related challenges we should be ok,” said Dr Slater.