Three Glimpses of the Caribbean

• Published in: EMS World Vol. 47; no. 5; pp. 14 - 17
• Main Author: Friesen, Jason
• Format: Trade Publication Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malvern HMP Communications 01.05.2018
• Subjects: Call centers; Cities; Developing countries; Emergency communications systems; Emergency medical care; Emergency services; Fires; LDCs; Population; Roads & highways; Traffic; Vehicles; Cuba; Haiti; United States > US; Dominican Republic
• ISSN: 2158-7833; 2159-3078

According to recent official statistics, emergency personnel have responded to nearly 600,000 incidents through the end of 2017, including just under 70,000 road traffic incidents.2 The Dominican effort is comprehensive in its approach, seeking to incorporate access to police, fire and EMS wherever it's rolled out, while also providing insights into the nuts and bolts of building an emergency system, ranging from budget battles about funding for vehicles, training or equipment, to policy debates about whether prank callers should be arrested (they are). [...]the standard ratio of one ambulance for every 50,000 population, if achieved, would increase costs exponentially, slow traffic still more, and do little to improve timely access to responders. While it's admittedly difficult to verify the information shared by official Cuban government sources, casual conversations with everyday folks, a few site visits, and several long discussions with field-level Cuban paramedics helped paint a telling picture of how things work in Cuba and revealed an innovative strategy clearly born of necessity. Because Cubans understand the money doesn't exist to purchase and sustain a "proper" EMS system, they rely instead on a three-pronged approach that seeks to keep problems from getting worse. An interesting effect of this public messaging is that it's helped convince the public that if they see someone with an acute medical condition, they understand that person needs to get to the hospital, where limited resources are best utilized. [...]the presumed disadvantages of not having formal ambulances for emergency response are countered by essentially making everyone a basic responder and every vehicle a potential ambulance.