Basseterre, St. Kitts (SKNIS): Emergency Medical Technician within the Ministry of Health, Omoro Hodge advises the public to give way to the ambulance when their sirens and flashing lights are activated.
Mr. Hodge said this during his appearance on the radio and television show ‘In Focus’ on Wednesday, June 7, where he was interviewed about emergency care.
He said, “I would have made an appeal to the general public to give way so that we would do what we need to do and get there in a timely fashion.” He added, “It is sometimes a struggle getting through traffic but when you know that it is someone that is having difficulty breathing, it makes it more imperative for us to get through traffic because at any point in time, that person could stop breathing.”
“We take on every call as if it’s our family members and you can look from the intensity of everyone’s face and the adrenaline, that our minds are set on the task ahead and it makes it very frustrating when we know where to go and we cannot get there because persons are deliberately not moving or slowing down or pulling over,” said Mr. Hodge.
Mr. Hodge also spoke about situations where the sirens cannot be used because of the condition of the patients.
“When we do have those patients on board and we don’t have those sirens on, be respectful as well because we still need to get to treatment,” he said.
“Don’t ever think the ambulance has on the lights because they want to get through traffic,” he said.