By Rehana Ahamad
ALTHOUGH critical, the provision of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is relatively new to Guyana, which means that there is an absence of important legislation to govern its functions.
According to Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony, efforts have commenced to ensure that all legal measures are in place for the smooth operation of Guyana’s EMS.
“There are a number of things that we are considering, because we don’t have specific EMS legislation, which is one area that we are looking at,” Dr. Anthony confirmed in a recent interview with this newspaper.
He explained that the Ministry of Health is currently compiling a draft of the EMS legislation. “That legislation would cover the kinds of body that the administration of the EMS [would be],” Dr. Anthony related.

The composition of the document is being spearheaded by Dr. Zulfikar Bux, initiator and Director of Guyana’s EMS. Contacted on Sunday, Dr. Bux said that he is being assisted in the process by colleagues from his faculty at the Vanderbilt Medical Center, who had initially supported his efforts to design an EMS model for Guyana.
Dr. Bux explained that he is responsible for creating the technical framework which would have to be submitted to the Minister of Health, who would then liaise with the Minister of Legal Affairs, in an effort to convert the document into a legal paper that can be presented to the National Assembly.
“In terms of timelines, our goal is to get that document submitted to the government within the next two months,” Dr. Bux posited.
He highlighted too that 2021 is likely to see a massive growth in the national EMS, which was launched in 2016. “We budgeted for expansion for this year,” Dr. Bux noted.
He said that the expansion is likely to see the EMS functioning outside of Region Four. “The plan is to get it to Region Three, Region Five and parts of Region Six, at least by early next year,” the EMS Director said.

In view of the projected expansion, Dr. Bux is hoping that the EMS legislation could be implemented at least by the end of 2021. “It would be ideal to get it before we expand, or at least while we are expanding, because the more people you start to transport, the more intricacies and issues you would start to find happening,” Dr. Bux emphasised.
He said that while a year-end implementation is his expectation, he recognises that the process is one that includes other parties and processes. As part of the expansion, Minister Anthony is hoping to build Guyana’s complement of ambulances operating on land in water via air. “…and of course, to train more persons to respond; this is a work in progress.”
Since its implementation in 2016, the National EMS has responded to approximately 15,630 medical emergencies that were reported via the Guyana Fire Service ‘912’ emergency hotline. In excess of 100 Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) have been trained, along with nine emergency medical responders; 32 emergency medical dispatchers; 618 police officers; 48 ranks of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU); 21 surveyors from the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission; 115 firefighters; 165 staffers of the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI); and 24 workers from the Mahaica-Mahaicony-Abary/ Agricultural Development Authority (MMA/ADA).

Despite a host of limited resources and infrastructure, the trained EMTs have been able to successfully resuscitate lives and deliver several babies en-route to the hospital. Dr. Bux said that he is pleased with the continued success of the Emergency Medical Services thus far, and hopes that it would grow holistically and exponentially. Dr. Bux is hopeful that by the end of 2025, the national EMS would have the capacity to respond to emergencies within a 15-minute period, within any major thoroughfare in the country.
Even though Emergency Medical Services are critical to the health system of any country, Guyana seems to have been left behind in this regard. As it is, public-spirited citizens are the customary first responders for almost any medical tragedy occurring locally, including road accidents.
Dr. Bux has often stressed that even though untrained first responders may have good intentions, their mishandling of patients often have fatal outcomes. It was this that inspired establishment of the EMS, the demand for which continues to grow.