New emergency vehicles to enhance service

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) is rolling out plans for workers of the Emergency Ambulance Service (EAS) to treat cardiac patients in the field.

Deputy Chairman of the QEH Board Dr Abdul-Rehman Mohamed made the announcement on Tuesday during the official handing over of two new Toyota ambulances to the EAS, bringing the on-road fleet to eight.

The delivery of the vehicles took place at the ambulance service headquarters at Wildey, St Michael, where the doctor also highlighted the need for members of the public to be trained in CPR.

Dr Mohamed said the cardiac initiative is important considering that the first few moments of cardiac care are critical to the outcome of a patient.

“We need to get more public engagement and involvement in prehospital care,” Dr Mohamed noted. “Quite often you have scenarios where persons have called the ambulance and are hands-off, waiting for the ambulance to arrive, not knowing that, especially with a cardiac patient, every minute that passes decreases the patient’s chances of survival by 10 per cent.

“We need to have a national programme where we have the public trained in CPR, first aid and stuff. We know that it is nearly impossible, no matter how close the ambulance service is, for the ambulance to reach a scene of accident within the first few minutes, because of traffic, mobilizing and stuff, and those are critical moments,” he stated.

The deputy chairman further explained that the service receives approximately 15 000 calls annually, which is about 50 calls per day. He said 80 per cent of those are for non-trauma cases, yet callers expect an ambulance in quick time.

He also indicated that emergency workers are also limited in their ability to treat victims when they arrive at crime scenes, due to the behaviour of persons at the scene who may not always have the best interest of the victims at heart.

Ambulance Officer Wendy Cadogan said the EAS has been waiting a long time for the two ambulances which are replacements for ambulances that were involved in accidents.

He said the additional vehicles, which he assured will be well cared for, will enhance the service’s ability to respond to emergencies, helping to save and improve the quality of life for Barbadians and visitors alike.

“These ambulances are equipped with some of the latest technology,” Cadogan said. “You are going to see the cardiac monitoring oxygen delivery system and, in the very near future, we will also be featuring on the ambulances, a device known as the AutoPulse which is a mechanical device to assist us in doing CPR and takes away some of the hand movement.”

Nassco Limited, the local Toyota dealer, facilitated the moving of the ambulances from the TOYOTA factory in Japan to Thailand where they were retrofitted. (AH)