Dialling Chris Tufton – emergency call
WE ARE big on governments doing the small things and getting them right, as well as coordinating systems so that they are efficiently maintained. Jamaican governments tend to be good at neither, examples of which were highlighted in two recent articles by this newspaper’s columnist, Patria-Kaye Aarons.
In her April 24 column, Ms Aarons recounted the horrors she faced in attempting to summon an ambulance to the scene of a collision in which a motorcyclist had apparently broken his leg, and followed up with another piece of the runaround she had experienced in an unresolved effort to determine whom to call for the dispatch of an ambulance. Reading both is like enduring a bad case of vertigo.
Clearly, there is much to fix in Jamaica’s emergency medical arrangements. But that is not the only lesson learned from Ms Aarons’ unfortunate episode. An obvious one is for the new police chief, Major General Antony Anderson: It is that the people who man the constabulary’s emergency telephone lines are urgently in need of training. And at least one, if Ms Aarons’ account of her conversation is correct – which we have every reason to believe it is – ought to be disciplined.
Based on Ms Aarons’ recounting of what happened, it appears that the motorcyclist collided into the rear of her car. She did what most sensible persons either involved in the situation or wanting help would do: called 119 – the police emergency number – to report the incident and request the dispatch of an ambulance. It appears that she initially got a courteous response and a promise of help.
Twenty minutes later, though, neither police nor ambulance arrived at the scene. Ms Aarons called again, but this time was confronted by a rude dispatcher who proceeded to offer a lecture about which number not to call for an ambulance and to give her the number of a private ambulance service, which had none to deploy.
As Ms Aarons later reported, 119 and 112 are listed in Jamaica’s telephone directory as the numbers to call for ambulances in emergencies. She said a firefighter told her that 110 is another number. But there is no clarity on the matter, not even from the health ministry.
Maybe the matter should be escalated, if he can spare some time from the Cornwall Regional Hospital fiasco, to the health minister, Christopher Tufton, or perhaps to a long-time predecessor, Peter Phillips, who is now the opposition leader.
EMERGENCY PROGRAMME
Eighteen years ago, in 1996, Dr Phillips launched an emergency medical service (EMS) as an adjunct to the Jamaica Fire Brigade. The previous December, 60 prospective Fire Brigade recruits graduated from G.C. Foster College in a specialised course for emergency medical technicians. Thirtyseven firefighters had previously been trained.
The service was to be rolled out in six fire stations in western Jamaica and, ultimately, to others. Each was to have dedicated ambulances and at least 16 emergency medical technicians. It appears that the system hasn’t, in nearly two decades, expanded beyond the initial five parishes and at most, the quality of their equipment is, at best, iffy.
The Ministry of Health does maintain some mostly hospital-based ambulances for transporting critically ill patients between its facilities. In emergencies, people largely use private ambulance services.
Successive governments have allowed the EMS, launched with great promise, to become rickety, so much so that no one seems to know – not even the Ministry of Health – which number to call in a medical emergency. Calling Christopher Tufton.