EMTs being targeted for more training

To provide effective medical services on-site, be it at traffic accidents or home calls, Guyana’s
Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) are expected to undergo more training.
Home Affairs Minister, Robeson Benn, made this disclosure during the Fire Advisory Board
outreach, on Friday. Benn explained that the operations of the emergency medical services
(EMS) since its launch in 2016, have been quite successful, hence the need to expand the service.
“The ambulance service has the most calls daily in respect to call-outs about 18 or 20 or more
calls for their related ambulance service and we are expanding that service,” Benn said. He
continued, “So, we have to upgrade their training to the point where they can provide more
services, more efficacious service on-site when they arrive, either at a traffic accident or at the
home where somebody is in medical distress.”
The minister pointed out that since 2016, the national EMS has responded to over 15,630
medical emergencies reported through the Guyana Fire Service’s (GFS) ‘912’ emergency
hotline. He revealed that some 100 EMTs, nine emergency medical responders; 32 emergency
medical dispatchers; 618 police officers; 48 ranks of the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU);
and 21 surveyors from the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission have received training so far.
Additionally, the minister said that some 115 firefighters; 165 staffers of the Guyana Water
Incorporated (GWI); and 24 workers from the Mahaica-Mahaicony-Abary/ Agricultural
Development Authority (MMA/ADA) were also trained. Benn stressed that to ensure the
country’s EMS operates smoothly, legislations are being drafted to govern its functions.
The home affairs minister revealed that the unit’s progress will also complement the fire stations’
efforts, including the Eccles and Central Fire Stations currently being constructed. “The
foundation (for Central Fire Station) is being laid already and it is important, because we say that
the Stabroek area is too congested. It has to be improved, of course, but it has to have the
adequate space for the new appliances we are bringing in…we need to have a new layout, new
buildings, modern architecture and the ability to respond as quickly as possible to the question of
fires,” Benn explained.
He said that some $614M will be used to build the GFS’ new headquarter.