The Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s (QEH) ambulance service is expected to be more efficient now that they have two additional vehicles.
Ambulance officer Wendy Cadogan made that point on Tuesday during a handing-over and blessing ceremony at the Emergency Ambulance Service’s (EAS) Wildey, St Michael, headquarters.
The two 2021 Toyota HiAce ambulances are valued at $185 000 each, and they take the EAS’ fleet to eight.
“These two ambulances represent a replacement for vehicles which were involved with accidents, so we are thankful they are here. They will enhance our capacity to respond, to further save lives and to improve the quality of life for Barbadians and our visitors,” Cadogan said, adding that the vehicles had additional equipment which would also make their jobs easier.
“We promise that we will care for them as we cared for the others and we will continue to save and preserve life.”
Deputy Chairman of the QEH Board, Dr Abdul Mohammed; Acting Chief Operations Officer, Louise Bobb; Emergency Medicine consultant, Dr David Byer; Chaplain Canon Noel Burke and Managing Director of NASSCO Limited, Roger Hill, attended.
Hill explained that NASSCO facilitated the movement of the vehicles from Japan and ensured they were retrofitted to the QEH’s specifications.
He promised that the additions would allow for smoother rides and cleaning.
“We had to take them from the factory and send them to another location because the QEH requires everything to be retrofitted. All the compartments are sealed so if you are transporting a patient and there is a lot of fluids, it will be much easier to clean with this capsule arrangement.
“These are the new model HiAce which are bigger than the older ones; there will be more equipment in it and automatic transmission. These are the first ambulances that have automatic transmission. So it should be a smoother ride for patients and provide more comfort in difficult times,” Hill said. (TG)
