Murder of Mabaruma schoolgirl... Health, Regional officials disagree on medivac delay

Murder of Mabaruma schoolgirl… Health, Regional officials disagree on medivac delay

Nov 17, 2012 News

The Ministry of Health and officials from Mabaruma yesterday gave conflicting accounts on why no flight was available to airlift 15-year-old Bibi Zaleena Shadeek immediately to the city.
Minister of Health Dr. Bheri Ramsaran told Kaieteur News that health officials desperately tried to have the critically injured girl medivacced out of Mabaruma the very night that she was stabbed and slashed.
He added that Health staffers informed him that they contacted officials from a private aircraft company on Wednesday night but were told that only one pilot was available.
Two Instrument Rated pilots have to be on any plane that is performing medivac operations at night.
“We did not get a second pilot. We were on top of it (the situation)…we were calling throughout the night, but we could not get a second pilot,” Minister Ramsaran said.
But Region One Chairman, Paul Pierre, told Kaieteur News that the real reason for the delay was because no Air Traffic Control operator was available at the Ogle Airport to authorize flights to depart.
Mr. Pierre said that two pilots from Air Services Limited were on stand-by Wednesday night for similar emergencies. He said that both pilots had lived at Mabaruma; one currently resides at Ogle and the other at Nandy Park, East Bank Demerara.
“But they could not operate without an air traffic controller… They would have been risking their licences.”
According to Mr. Pierre, officials from another chartered company at Ogle were also contacted, but only one pilot was available.
And the only available plane at Mabaruma, operated by the non-profit organization, Wings For Humanity (WFH), also could not take off because the female pilot was not authorized to fly at night, the Regional Chairman said.
It was not until the following day that a plane, operated by Wings For Humanity (WFH) left Mabaruma with Shadeek, but she succumbed on the way to the city.
Shadeek, a former fifth form student who was preparing for CXC early next year, was stabbed in the stomach and had her neck slashed by a young man at around 19:30 hours on Wednesday at her home at Kumaka Stretch, Barima-Waini, Region One.
Her attacker, identified as 18-year-old Ronnie Ramit, subsequently hanged himself.
Shadeek was rushed to the Mabaruma Hospital but there was no doctor there at the time. Kaieteur News was told that a doctor arrived one hour and ten minutes later, but in the interim the injured girl was being treated by a nurse.

Latest News

Murder of Mabaruma schoolgirl… Health, Regional officials disagree on medivac delay

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | December, 2nd, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Stabroek Ballers, Sparta Boss, Bent Street ‘B’, North East &...

West Indies Falter in Disheartening Series Loss...

Trophy Stall hands over trophies for Kennard...

Omari Glasgow, carrying the hopes and dreams of a...

GCF eyeing growth across other regions in 2025...

Diamond beat Covent Garden Secondary in Tapeball...

Features/Columnists

The stakes are high in Guyana’s democracy

Let the asylum seekers go: a first step for Venezuela to rebuild relations in the Americas

A leader undresses in public

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]

Murder of Mabaruma schoolgirl… Health, Regional officials disagree on medivac delay

Share this:

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | December, 2nd, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]