Meeting Health Care Needs in Trinidad and Tobago
Emergency healthcare workers provide
high-quality ambulance services
on a house call. |
Emergency health care workers in the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago have reason to feel a sense of pride every time an ambulance rushes to a medical emergency and its crew handles needy patients efficiently and with outstanding levels of clinical care. With the help of Tri-Star Industries of Canada, Trinidad and Tobago now has a pre-hospital Emergency Health Services (EHS) system that provides reliable, high quality ambulance service nationwide to the public.
In the late 1990’s, the Ministry of Health of Trinidad and Tobago had a vision to establish a national emergency ambulance service for the general public. The Ministry identified Tri-Star Industries of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, to design and deliver the country’s first nationwide system, using a proven Canadian EHS model. At the heart of the system is a fleet of modern Advanced Life Support ambulances, trained emergency medical technicians, centralized communications/dispatch, and smooth interface with health facilities where ambulances are received.
“The business of supplying emergency health services has a very serious human side,” said Keith Condon, who is president and CEO of Tri-Star, and an 8-time winner of Export Achievement Awards. “In Trinidad and Tobago, prior to the installation of the system, ambulance service was costly, fragmented, privately-run and not widely accessible to the general public. Today, the system developed by Tri-Star serves all of the country’s 1.2 million population,” said Mr. Condon.
While under contract with the Ministry of Health, Tri-Star identified additional local needs in basic emergency and health care that would benefit from upgrading. Needs included emergency cardiac care, emergency psychiatric care, triage response at health facilities, and improved management of hospital accident and emergency departments. CIDA-INC provided $500,000 for Tri-Star to design and deliver training programs in these vital areas. More than 200 health care workers in Trinidad and Tobago were trained, including 50 instructors through a ‘train-the-trainer’ model, which helps ensure sustainability. Training was conducted locally and delivered in collaboration with the Faculty of Medicine of Dalhousie University, Halifax.
A public education program in healthy heart living, a three-year (2002-2005) strategy for delivery of emergency health care services, and an improved ambulance fleet management system also formed parts of the CIDA-INC sponsored work.
Initiatives supported by CIDA-INC have had positive impact on the quality of emergency health care available to the general public in Trinidad and Tobago. Since completion of the training programs, 300 additional health care workers have been trained. Emergency room staff and management are now using the same terminology and are seeking to use standardized care approaches, resulting in better-managed emergency rooms and more effective patient care. Patients presenting with psychiatric problems are handled with more confidence. The emergency room component has acted as a catalyst in the creation of the Trinidad and Tobago Emergency Physicians and Surgeons Association, whose mission is to promote emergency medicine as a specialty and to develop best practices in emergency medical care.
Together, Tri-Star Industries, CIDA-INC and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago have made a meaningful contribution to improving emergency health care services for the benefit of all citizens of Trinidad & Tobago. Today, the pre-hospital EHS system responds with caring services to approximately 45,000 calls per year from the public and system is acknowledged by the people of Trinidad and Tobago as an outstanding success.
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