Pre-hospital care must be developed says EMS personnel
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Emergency Medical Services technicians are hitting out at Minister of Health Dr Michael Darville following assertions that “poor” prehospital care by EMTs is a direct result of long-term medical damage.
Darville was speaking to nurses at a neurological trauma workshop hosted by Bahamian neurosurgeon Dr Myron Rolle.
He suggested that emergency medical services do not render proper care at sites of emergency and can sometimes cause traumatic brain injury or other long-term effects.
But several EMTs who spoke to Eyewitness News on the matter said this is an insulting statement that trivializes the overall problems the industry faces.
Richardo Woodside, an advanced EMT who has been licensed for nearly 10 years, said he was alarmed by the statement because most of the time the service is not adequately equipped to do what is required in the field, especially on the Family Islands that have no EMS.
He explained that traumatic brain injuries can only be diagnosed after CT scan and X-Rays which is not available in the field.
“We manage the symptoms of the injuries that are presented to us,” Woodside said.
“The signs and symptoms that we are faced with we manage. We do a thorough assessment by the national registry standards in which every EMT who is licensed has to pass, and that dictates the way we conduct this systematic assessment and it also dictates the way we treat the patient.”
The longtime technician insisted that EMT personnel are not simply ambulance drivers, which is often misconceived.
He said proper training is required for both roles but their purposes are different.
He further pointed out the challenges on the Family Islands and the delivery of health care due to the lack of EMS presence on those islands.
Woodside noted that Abaco, Freeport, and New Providence are the only islands in The Bahamas that have EMS services.
Meanwhile, other islands have an ambulance but the individuals manning those vehicles when an emergency occurs are everyday citizens such as bartenders, security officers, carpenters, plumbers, and others that are deemed reliable and dependable by the community.
He said although these people have no formal training, they should not be penalized because the work is largely voluntary.
“We are in a dire state because there are no official EMTs present on these various Family islands that are highly developed, mainly Exuma and Eleuthera.”
The Ministry of Health has been given approval for an excess of 270 staff to be dispatched to the Family Islands in an effort to improve healthcare systems on those islands.
The move comes after a tragic traffic accident on Long Island claimed the lives of three and concerns were raised over the length of time it took for the sole survivor of a car crash to be airlifted to New Providence.
But Woodside insisted that the solution is not the training of nurses and doctors, it’s a need to develop the prehospital care system.
“EMS goes to the scene, assists the individual, stabilizes them, and conducts the safe transportation and continued management to them until they arrive at the clinic where the nurse and physician take the baton from there,” he continued.
“…A nurse and a physician is not trained in vehicle extraction. EMS is trained in that and fire rescue is trained in that.”
Woodside added that individuals who are providing emergency pre-hospital care must be trained in the necessary areas and be provided the proper equipment so they would not directly cause or indirectly cause further harm to the patient.
“It is essential to have on the ground, on the scene, trained persons, skilled individuals to safely remove them, stabilize them and transport them,” he said.
“…When the minister said poor treatment led directly to long-term damage, I was taken aback because I was trying to figure out what study was conducted for him to make this decisive statement.”
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