Orealla-Siparuta gets long awaited ‘River Ambulance’

Oct 14, 2018 News

The commissioning of long awaited ‘River Ambulance’ for Orealla-Siparuta is just the beginning of a series of health sector upgrades for villages.
The water ambulance that is equipped with an engine and all accessories was handed over to the Orealla-Siparuta Village Council on Thursday.
The acquisition of the ambulance, which cost $22.4M is a major achievement for the Region Six Health Administration (RHA) since residents have been anticipating its arrival and use for two communities for some time.
The village councillor, George Penuex, recorded the acquisition of the water ambulance, which is a boat used for emergency medical care as “history in the making”.
He also recalled that Orealla was not one of the villages to be considered for the state-of-the-art ‘River Ambulance’.
“We have never had this in 23 years, of the previous government.”
The water ambulance will become essential, transporting emergency cases from Siparuta to Orealla and from Orealla to Skeldon, for further medical treatment if required.
According to the Regional Biomedical Technician (RBT), Tewanna Adonis, the ambulance is well equipped with a stretcher, multi-parameter patient monitor and pulse oximeter, echocardiogram leads, blood pressure monitor, thermometer, suction pump with cylinders and tubes, glucose monitor, test strips, among other pieces of essential equipments.
Before commissioning the vessel, Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence, told residents that it is just the beginning of a continuous series of upgrades to the communities’ health sector.
“The river ambulance is just about one of the services that we would like to provide to not only Siparuta and Orealla, but also to all the hinterland communities.
“We are currently reviewing all of the health facilities to see what upgrade they need to provide to these health facilities, so we can offer more services.”
She even explained that it is more than the handing over and commissioning of a water ambulance. Rather, she considers it as a lifesaving investment from taxpayers in the riverine communities in the Corentyne River.
While this is the case, the Minister added that the ministry and the Regional Health Authority of Region Six plan to upgrade Orealla’s Health Centre to effectively deal with emergency cases.
Lynley Herman, a resident and a village official said, “I am really glad about it. This says a lot about what more the government can do for us.”
Deputy Toshao, Randy Herman, noted that this is the first of its kind for the village and he urged residents to claim ownership of the vessel.
“You people must have a watchful eye over this vessel. It must be treated with care at all times because on any day, any of us may have to use it. So please my people, take care of it, and be proud of it.”

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