Latest update April 1st, 2025 5:37 PM
12 fire service members ready to render pre-hospital care
Officials along with the EMTs
The Guyana Fire Service has made a giant leap forward in the area of Emergency Medical Response; with the graduation of its first ever batch of 12 Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) on Tuesday, following one month training.
The programme was offered by the Ministry of Public Health, in collaboration with the Vanderbilt Medical Centre, in Nashville, Tennessee, USA and saw the attendance of local Programme Director, Zulfikar Bux; Fire Chief Marlon Gentle and Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan.
Chief Instructor of Vanderbilt, Shannon Langston, was also present at the graduation ceremony which saw a total of 28 EMTs collecting their certificates.
Two persons from the Bartica Regional Hospital, 12 fire service members and 15 persons who applied outside of the Public Health Ministry would have undergone training in life support skills.
However, one person was unsuccessful, but Dr. Bux promised to work with that individual.
EMTs are health care providers trained to respond quickly to emergency situations regarding medical issues, traumatic injuries and accident scenes.
According to Dr. Bux, in 2014 there were two ambulances with EMTs and they responded to 3500 calls, delivered babies, and even saved the lives of heart attack victims.
While an Emergency Medical Services (EMS) unit will be created, all firemen and women will be trained so when they go on scenes, they can work with the EMTs, and help save the lives of patients.
Kaieteur News was told that there were a lot of challenges in developing an EMS system in Guyana, but some amount of progress was subsequently made.
“We have been working for the past five to six years with the Vanderbilt Medical Centre who is the pioneer in EMS development in the USA, and they have been helping in funding this programme. They are the experts,” Dr. Bux pointed out.
He said that initially they had no plans to get this programme done within this year, since they did not think the system in place in Guyana would deliver the EMS programme in such a short and efficient manner.
Both Gentle and Ramjattan congratulated the graduates and encouraged them to dream bigger.
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