Bajan impressed with Health Care in SVG

Franz Jordan, a medical professional from Barbados, thinks that this country is doing well in terms of its health care system.

“We all have challenges in our Caribbean islands. I think that we are doing well in terms of the economies of scale and what we have at our disposal,” Jordan told SEARCHLIGHT on Saturday, April 28, during a visit to the Advanced Health-Urgent Care & Wellness Centre, a facility operated by Dr Conrad Nedd.Jordan is a paramedic who has been providing pre-hospital care for over 20 years.

He graduated from the University of the West Indies (UWI) with a bachelor’s degree in management studies (Special) in 2009.He told SEARCHLIGHT that he has been to this country on seven occasions to conduct training in emergency cardiac care and has observed that St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) benefits from the food that is grown and produced locally.

“In terms of the national food and produce that is here, the vegetables, I am often in awe, I can’t come here unless I go to the market and once persons stick to their indigenous foods, issues like hypertension, diabetes and stuff like that can be controlled…you don’t have a shortage of food here at all,” Jordan said while also encouraging exercise.

In his native Barbados, Jordan is a senior American Heart Association (AHA) certified instructor and provides instruction in various AHA Emergency Cardiovascular Care programs including Heartsaver First Aid (HSFA), Basic Life Support (BLS), and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS).

He is also an ECG and Pharmacology facilitator and in his capacity as AHA Training Centre Faculty, he has the responsibility to train, monitor and mentor new AHA instructors.He is enrolled at the University of the West Indies reading for master’s degree in public health and is on course to graduate in September 2018. His teaching experience extends to classrooms in Jamaica and St Maarten.He said he is happy to work with Vincentians on public health matters.