JAMAICA: Hospital blackouts a life-and-death matter

PRESIDENT OF the Nurses’ Association of Jamaica (NAJ), Edith Allwood-Anderson, has charged the Government to install sufficient power generators after hospitals struggled to protect patients on life support during an islandwide blackout on the weekend.

Mrs. Allwood-Anderson’s call came in light of a report from a nurse at the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH) that patients in the critical care unit had to be ‘bagged’ (manually ventilated) for hours during Saturday’s power outage.

“An electrical plant is a must in this area. We need to understand that these are priority areas, and in an intensive unit, like KPH, a major hospital, and Bustamante Children’s Hospital, we need to look at them,” she told The Gleaner during the NAJ’s 49th annual Summer School Seminar at the Hilton Kingston hotel, yesterday.

BACK-UP SYSTEM

The NAJ head said the lack of a back-up system to ensure the continuity of proper care needs to be addressed urgently.

“Hospitals were in darkness and nurses had to be scrambling in the dark to look for a Home Sweet Home lamp or a flashlight to care for patients. These things need to be looked at!” she stressed.

Jamaica Gleaner