EMTs being targeted for more training

Guyana’s Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) are expected to undergo more training to provide effective medical services on-site, be it at traffic accidents or home calls.

Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn, M.P., made this disclosure during the Fire Advisory Board outreach, on Friday.

He explained that the operations of the emergency medical services (EMS) since its launch in 2016, have been quite successful, hence the need to expand the service.

“The ambulance service has the most calls daily in respect to call-outs about 18 or 20 or more calls for their related ambulance service and we are expanding that service.

So, we have to upgrade their training to the point where they can provide more services, more efficacious service on-site when they arrive, either at a traffic accident or at the home where somebody is in medical distress,” he said.

Since 2016, the national EMS has responded to over 15,630 medical emergencies reported through the Guyana Fire Service’s (GFS) ‘912’ emergency hotline.

Some 100 EMTs, nine emergency medical responders; 32 emergency medical dispatchers; 618 police officers; 48 ranks of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU); and 21 surveyors from the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission have received training so far.

Some 115 firefighters; 165 staffers of the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI); and 24 workers from the Mahaica-Mahaicony-Abary/ Agricultural Development Authority (MMA/ADA) were also trained.

To ensure the country’s EMS operates smoothly, legislations are being drafted to govern its functions.

Minister Benn noted that the unit’s progress will also complement the fire stations’ efforts, including the Eccles and Central Fire Stations currently being constructed.

“The foundation (for Central Fire Station) is being laid already and it is important, because we say that the Stabroek area is too congested. It has to be improved, of course, but it has to have the adequate space for the new appliances we are bringing in…we need to have a new layout, new buildings, modern architecture and the ability to respond as quickly as possible to the question of fires.” Some $614 million will be used to build the GFS’ new headquarter.