Basseterre, St. Kitts (SKNIS): Emergency Medical Services (EMS) are critical and play a significant role in improving healthcare in any country. As such, the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis has taken a step to train Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) to provide immediate treatment that improves patients’ chances of survival.
“The EMS will be improved significantly. The EMTs have started their programme already and we will carry them from basics all the way up to paramedic,” said Prime Minister, the Honourable Dr Terrance Drew on March 02, 2023, where he engaged members of the media in a Special Interview on key matters of national importance. “No longer do we want people to show up in an ambulance without the requisite training. And so, we are making sure that we take care of that.”
Prime Minister Dr Drew, who also serves as Minister of Health, thanked the Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine (RUSVM) for partnering with the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis “to ensure that we can train our EMTs to international standards.”
Equally important, customer service at the Joseph N France (JNF) General Hospital will also be improved. Prime Minister Dr Drew said that Delcia Bradley-King has been tasked with overseeing this programme.
“She is someone who is an expert in customer service training. She is now carrying out a study at JNF to see what the issues are because there have been a lot of complaints about customer service at JNF,” said the Health Minister. “We are carrying out a scientific assessment right now to see the extent of that. Once we have determined the extent, we will put a plan in place to deal with customer service.”
Prime Minister Dr Drew added that there are several programmes running at the JNF, as the aim is to change a number of critical things such as the early registration of nurses and changing nurses’ and doctors’ uniforms.
“I know when changes are to come that sometimes there can be natural inertia, but I am asking that we join customer service and scientific training. We are very serious about this. The changes must come but we want all to come on board with respect to the positive changes so that we can improve,” he said. “We are saying to the people of St. Kitts and Nevis that we are transforming healthcare, not just from an infrastructural standpoint as is with the new hospital, but from the standpoint of improving the human resource.”