Stabbings, gunshot wound cases presented to hospitals decline

Stabbings, gunshot wound cases presented to hospitals decline

A&E cases also declined overall over a five-year period

 

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Stabbing and gunshot wound victims admitted to Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) in New Providence and the Rand Memorial Hospital in Grand Bahama in the 2017/2018 fiscal year declined 27 percent and 40 percent respectively compared to the previous fiscal period, according to Accident and Emergency (A&E) data obtained by Eyewitness News Online.

Hospital data is collated by each fiscal year, July 1-June 30.

In 2016/2017, PMH treated 181 people for gunshot wounds, compared to the 121 people the following fiscal year.

Similarly, 49 people were admitted for gunshot wounds at the Rand in 2016/2017, compared to the 16 admitted in 2017/2018.

Over a five-year period, between July 2013 and June 2018, admissions of victims with gunshot wounds declined 50.5 per cent from 250 in 2013/2014 to 137 in 2017/2018.

The murder trend during this period was the opposite with murders increasing in the triple digits up until last year when 90 murders were recorded — the lowest murder count since 85 murders was recorded in 2009.

One-hundred and twenty-two murder were recorded in 2017; 111 in 2016; 146 in 2015, the highest recorded; 122 in 2014; and 119 in 2013.

Additionally, PMH data shows that stabbings presented to the hospital steadily declined from 317 in 2013/2014; 222 in 2014/2015; 197 in 2015/2016; 226 in 2016/2017 and 164 in 2017/2018.

While stabbings presented to the Rand fluctuated over the five-year period, the 42 recorded in 2017/2018 was the lowest since 2013.

There were 54 people with stab wounds admitted to the Rand in 2013/2014.

That figure dropped to 46 the next year; declined further to 34 in 2015/2016, and increased in 2016/2017 to 59.

Crime statistics released by the Royal Bahamas Police Force in January did not include the number of shootings and stabbings recorded, however, shooting statistics were released last December for the period January 1, 2017, through December 18, 2017, and January 1, 2018, through December 18, 2018.

At the time, shootings were down 39 per cent during the period, from 110 shootings to 67 shootings.

Police statistics are compiled for the calendar year.

A closer look at the data shows that assaults have also steadily declined at PMH since July 2013.

In the 2013/2014 fiscal year, there were 1,697 assaults cases presented to PMH.

In the next fiscal period, this figure dropped 23 per cent to 1,294.

In the next fiscal period — 2015/2016 — assaults cases at PMH dropped marginally to 1,262.

For the 2016/2017 fiscal period, assault cases presented to the hospital remained relatively unchanged at 1,260.

They declined 12 per cent to 1,106 in 2017/2018.

A total of 6,619 assault cases were presented to PMH over the five-year period, the report shows.

Overall, A&E cases at PMH declined over the five-year period.

In 2016/2017, 53,757 people presented to A&E at PMH, compared to the 50,966 cases the following fiscal year, the report shows.

This represents a decrease of five per cent year-on-year.

Since July 2013, A&E cases have dropped approximately 11 per cent overall.

There were 57,311 people A&E cases at PMH in the fiscal period 2013/2014.

These include admissions, assaults, road traffic accidents, rape, A&E deaths, ‘B.I.D.’, significant police cases, stabbings, GSW (gunshot wound), others, DNA, AMA (against medical advice discharges) and absconded.

About Royston Jones Jr.

Royston Jones Jr. is a senior digital reporter and occasional TV news anchor at Eyewitness News. Since joining Eyewitness News as a digital reporter in 2018, he has done both digital and broadcast reporting, notably providing the electoral analysis for Eyewitness News’ inaugural election night coverage, “Decision Now 2021”.