THE Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) Thursday held a small award ceremony to commend the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Department for its exceptional performance. 

Ron Morris was awarded a trophy from Minister of Health, Dr. Bheri Ramsarran for being the best Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), and a trophy was presented to the entire batch for their

support thus far.
Medical Director of the EMS Department of GPHC, Dr. Zulfikar Bux noted that the service is designed to provide emergency medical response to patients in the public domain who need urgent medical care. The EMS Department was established in February 2014.
The EMTs usually retrieve patients and deliver them to the Emergency Room in a safe and timely manner. He also stated that “these EMTs are specially trained to deliver emergency medical care to patients on scene and en route to the hospital.”

NATIONAL EMS BODY
Moreover, Dr. Bux disclosed that the EMS service will be initiating a plan to provide medical responses to all patients in Guyana. This is seen as a ‘pilot initiative’ that is slowly expanding in all regions of Guyana. The major plan is to develop a national EMS body that will control the daily operations of EMS services in Guyana.
Support was provided by the Vanderbilt Medical Center and the Morris Foundation in the USA which is quite well-known as one of the best emergency hospitals in the USA. The Vanderbilt Medical Center has partnered with the Morris Foundation to ensure that Guyana has access to the resources for the development of this sector. Moreover, the EMS has been collaborating with the Ministry of Health and the GPHC to develop the plan to provide urgent medical responses to all patients in Guyana.

EMERGENCY DOCTORS
Three persons have been trained specially as Emergency Doctors so far and the department is expected to have 12 graduates as Emergency Doctors in the next three years.
The achievements of the EMS Department since its establishment in 2014 are:
> Successfully trained over fifty persons as Emergency Medical Technicians, including members of the Guyana Police Force, Guyana Defence Force, Guyana Fire Service and medical personnel in the administrative regions.
> Responded to over 3,000 patient calls, varying in nature and urgency.
> Delivered the first baby in an ambulance in Guyana.
> Delivered three other babies before reaching the hospital, including a twin delivery.
> Delivered multiple patients to the Emergency Room who needed immediate care, including those in motor vehicle accidents, persons having heart attacks and even those from the hinterland who required emergency medical evacuation.
> Improved response time from the scene of illness or injury to the Emergency Room.
> Formulated efficient and effective communication via a radio-based system between EMTs in the ambulance, the dispatcher and doctors in the Emergency Room giving on-line medical advice.