The Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) is working to staff its ambulances with Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) and over the past two weeks, one ambulance has been operating with these personnel as the hospital evaluates the new system.
Zulficar Bux, Head of the Department of Accident and Emergencies told Stabroek News that the hospital hopes to have EMTs available in ambulances nationwide after the evaluation process is completed. There are also talks of implementing an automated dispatch system for emergencies depending on the outcome of the EMT’s service, Bux said.
In addition to the one ambulance at GPH which carries EMTs, there are two additional backup ambulances available for public response as well. Bux added that for the two weeks the EMTs have been operational, they have been very important and useful. He cited instances such as a pregnant woman at Melanie, East Coast Demerara (ECD), about three accidents in Georgetown on Phagwah day and an airplane crash at Arau, Region 7, where the EMTs were quite useful. “We are in the process of evaluating this new initiative, recording the mistakes, calculating the demand etc. and our finding will determine whether we will have the system expanded nationwide,” Bux said.
The EMTs are trained to give medical assistance to patients while in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Bux said that EMTs are trained to perform Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), provide proper stabilization to patients, and get them to the hospital in a timely manner as well as to keep in regular contact with doctors at the Emergency Unit to provide an updated status of the patients’ condition.
This, Bux said, will help doctors to be better equipped to provide medical treatment immediately upon the patients’ arrival. He said the hospital is also working with the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) to have the 913 emergency telephone service functional and it is expected to be up and running in another few weeks.
A batch of student are being trained as Emergency Medical specialists and are expected to graduate in November. This programme, according to Bux is being funded by the Morris Foundation in affiliation with the Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville Tennessee, along with the Government of Guyana. He said that the Morris Foundation and the Vanderbilt Medical Center are also assisting with professionals travelling to Guyana to train the EMTs.
