Latest update February 1st, 2025 6:45 AM
Jan 09, 2015 News
– approximately 3000 calls responded to in 2014
The Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC)’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS), established in February 2014, with guidance from Dr. Zulfikar Bux, Director of the Accident and Emergency Department at the hospital, has thus far seen the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) team responding to approximately 3000 emergencies
The EMS service is designed to provide emergency medical response for patients, who are in need of urgent medical care, before actually making it to the hospital. It is administered by EMTs, who are specially trained to deliver emergency medical care to patients on scene and en route to the hospital. These individuals are tasked with the responsibility of retrieving patients and delivering them to the emergency room in a safe, efficient and timely manner.
According to Dr. Bux, this batch of technicians is the first in a pilot project which aims to have emergency medical response services available at the country’s five main hospitals and possibly across the country. This pilot initiative will gradually expand in phases to the different regions of Guyana. He also noted that close to 50 individuals have been trained as EMTs, including persons from the Guyana Police Force (GPC), Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and the Guyana Fire Service (GFS), along with medical personnel.
He added that the major goal is to have a National EMS body which will control the daily operations of EMS services in Guyana. The target facility for the housing of this unit is Project Dawn, Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara.
Also, communication is a key aspect of any response system, so in this light, a dispatch system is currently being developed, and when in force will be a part of the National EMS body’s housing unit.
Further, Dr. Bux noted that medical evacuation is very important, especially with regard to response to accidents in the Hinterland. Hence, work is being conducted to develop a Medivac (medical evacuation) response system to have a timelier and more efficient evacuation system.
Minister of Health Dr. Bheri Ramsaran has noted that there are plans to further expand the skills of the EMTs, by training them in the administration of blood and oxygen. This will also include the matching of blood groups.
This project has received tremendous support from the Vanderbilt Medical Center and the Morris Foundation in the U.S.A. The former, which is renowned for being one of the best Emergency Hospitals in the U.S.A, has been collaborating with the Ministry of Health and the GPHC, to develop Emergency Medicine in Guyana. It has thus far trained three specialist emergency doctors and is expected to graduate 12 others, over the next three years. These doctors are expected to continue the development of Emergency Medicine so that Specialised Emergency Medicare will become accessible to Guyanese.
The Vanderbilt Medical Center has also partnered with the Morris Foundation, to provide Guyana with the necessary resources for the development of this sector.
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