EMS system reportedly stymied by non-maintenance of ambulances

Jul 18, 2019 News

“We don’t have any ambulance for the day,” said the operator who answered the 912 emergency number, yesterday. The 912 number doubles as the national medical and fire emergencies response number.
While responses continued to be readily available for fire emergencies yesterday, none were available to persons with medical emergencies. When pressed to share more detail as to why the medical response was halted, the operator only added, “Have a nice day.”
However based on information filtered to this publication, the state of affairs may be farther reaching. This publication was reliably informed that the three or four ambulances attached to the Emergency Medical Service [EMS] and stationed at the Guyana Fire Service [GFS’] Stabroek, Georgetown headquarters have become inoperable reportedly due to lack of maintenance.
It was posited that this state of affairs could essentially cripple the national Emergency Medical Service [EMS] which has been offering its services across the capital city. The EMS programme represents a tactical collaboration between the Ministry of Public Health and the GFS.
Moreover, the halt to the service saw Kaieteur News seeking answers from the relevant officials. The national EMS director, Dr. Zulfikar Bux, was first on the list.
However, when contacted, the emergency specialist was oblivious to the prevailing state of affairs. He was unable to comment on the status of the ambulances as this aspect of the programme does not fall within his remit. He, however, shared how passionate he is to see the EMS programme be sustained as it is one that has been helping to save many lives.
Calls to the mobile phone of Fire Chief, Marlon Gentle, went unanswered yesterday. This publication subsequently learnt from another official that this was owing to the fact that he is currently out of the jurisdiction. No one contacted yesterday was at liberty to comment on when the EMS system will return to normalcy.
The blow to the EMS programme comes a mere few weeks after talks about its expansion were announced.
Dr. Bux had disclosed, “Right now we are only covering areas in Georgetown but by the end of this year [2019] we will be hitting the East Coast, the East Bank and West Berbice.”
He had spoken about officials green-lighting the addition of more ambulances and the training of Emergency Medical Technicians [EMTs] who are tasked with providing basic medical care to the emergency cases on scene and en route to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation [GPHC].
Since being introduced in 2016, the national EMS system has catered to more than 8,000 medical emergencies. These emergencies, according to Dr. Bux, have ranged from women in labour to persons suffering from heart attacks.
According to him, the service is executed by a number of trained EMTs with basic but sufficient medical knowledge who make their way to various medical emergencies by way of ambulance.
In medicine, Dr. Bux had explained, there is something called the “golden hour” or the first hour after a traumatic injury occurs when emergency treatment is most likely to be successful.
According to Dr. Bux, “Studies have proven that this has helped to impact and save the lives of many people.”
Moreover, he had shared his conviction that many more lives are likely to be saved with the expansion of the programme.
“A lot of work and commitment have been placed into getting to this level and we will continue to put more because I have seen the benefits of EMS working in developed systems; I have seen what it can do for John Public,” Dr. Bux had posited.
However, with this recent development the sustenance and expansion of the programme could very well be in jeopardy.

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