St Bess is underserved - Bread Basket parish badly in need of additional ambulance services

If medical practitioner Dr Ubong Umoh was an adviser for a day to Dr Christopher Tufton, the minister of health and wellness, he would encourage the establishment of dispatch units for ambulances in each major town in the parish of St Elizabeth.

“The idea would be an ambulance, or dispatch units, in each major towns – Junction, Nain, Southfield, Santa Cruz. A network of dispatch centres for ambulances to respond to the demand across the parish,” said Umoh, who operates the Mercy Medicare Centre, and is the sole provider of private ambulance service in the parish capital.

Umoh, who is also an employee at the Black River Hospital, believes that expanding radiological centres across the parish could ease the demand for more emergency units. “That is where the demand has been; for patients to be transported for specialist diagnosis, even as far as Mandeville.”

However, with such an idea likely to be a very costly venture for the Government, Umoh believes more private operations could be the answer.

“My vision is that others will come in and offer the service, (because) the parish is underserved ... mine is just one extra. At the hospital, there will be circumstances when the ambulance could be out of service, and so having ambulances available 24/7 to get people to the hospital is crucial because time means life; private services can play a part,” he said.

Diana Brown-Miller, CEO at the hospital, said the two ambulances at the Type-C facility are fairly new and transports passengers to other health facilities for specialist treatment on a daily basis.

Yet the provision of healthcare is not offered, based on a defined geographical space, as is practised by other public-sector services.

BEYOND PARISH BOUNDARIES

“The Black River Hospital caters for patients from as far as Whitehouse in Westmoreland, who choose to come here instead of going to Savanna-la-Mar,” the CEO told The Gleaner. “There are also communities beyond the border in St James to the north and Mandeville in the south, that are an additional 25,000 persons.”

“On an annual basis, we have about 35,000 (persons) that we see outside … one-third of that are who would use our ambulance services.”

Sean Brissett, who as manager for the St Elizabeth Health Services is responsible for the 24 health facilities in the parish, said there is a contingency plan involving all the ambulance services in the parish. However, he refused to be drawn into a comparison between the local emergency response and other countries.

“It does not work like that, you have to consider it in context,” he said. “The ambulance service does not operate as a response service, but rather in a facility-to-facility support system for transporting our patients.

“We have two ambulances assigned to the Black River Hospital, and because of where Black River is located and the level of diagnostic services a patient may need, we have to transport patients in a clearly defined manner,” Brissett explained. “… Sometimes to Santa Cruz, to Mandeville, to Montego Bay, or even to St Ann’s Bay.

“There have also been instances where patients cannot be transported through hilly terrains because of their condition,” he added. “So a unit going to the Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay with a patient, may be required to travel along the coast to ensure that the oxygen levels are maintained, which could result in the unit serving only one patient for the day.”

The Treasure Beach Emergency Unit, an affiliate of the BREDS Treasure Beach Foundation, is known to readily offer their ambulance to support any eventualities across the parish, but the vehicle was involved in a motor vehicle accident recently and has been out of commission since.

AMBULANCE DONATED

The ambulance was a donation from the National Commercial Bank and was equipped with basic items such as a defibrillator, oxygen, backboards and bandages, and manned by Red Cross volunteers. “Yes, we played our part in providing support, not only to the residents of Treasure Beach, but in any situation that may occur within our reach and we are needed. Unfortunately, it was involved in an accident and is not operational at this time,” said Jason Henzell, chairman of BREDS.

Sheila Doctor, branch director for the St Elizabeth Red Cross, located in Santa Cruz, told The Gleaner that their ambulance was donated by the Rotary Club and is stridently managed to ensure that all residents within St Elizabeth and, in a few cases, beyond the border, benefits.

“We conduct public-education programmes and provide support in terms of first aid at most public events, including football matches. This is done at a minimal cost, which is used to offset maintenance for the ambulance, pay our driver, and provide a stipend for our volunteers,” Doctor told The Gleaner.

The Jamaica Police Convalescent Centre in Black River also has an ambulance to transport injured cops, but is also numbered in the contingency plan.

“Should we need additional support, we normally stay within our region first of all, so we would call on Percy Junor Hospital, the Red Cross and the other private services.

Brown-Miller is confident in the competency level of her drivers, who are all EMT-trained, while refresher courses are done once per year, with the National Works Agency responsible for the certification of all government drivers.