Public health official blames MBJ for foul up over airport emergency
Published:Thursday | September 12, 2024 | 12:12 AMAdrian Frater/Gleaner Writer
Western Bureau:
Lennox Wallace, head of the St James Public Health Services (StJPHS), says failures on the part of MBJ Airport Limited, the operators of the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, are to be blamed for Leroy Smith not being transported to receive medical assistance before he died at the airport last week.
Smith, a 71-year-old Westmoreland native, who resided in Orlando, Florida, fell and hit his head while checking in to board an outgoing flight. He died more than half an hour later without being taken to get the medical attention that, possibly, could have saved his life.
“It is really unfortunate that MBJ, an international airport, one that is probably the largest in the region, should have an incident and call another facility for an ambulance,” said Wallace in questioning why MBJ did not have an ambulance on location, a requirement in aviation best practices.
“If you are the manager of one of the largest facilities here, not just in Jamaica, but in the Caribbean, how do you manage the welfare of your own staff? Because they can also get injured. When somebody gets injured, we talk about the golden hour, so time becomes an essence for you to move from one point to a medical facility,” added Wallace.
Like Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton did on Tuesday, in response to an MBJ release that pointed to an unsuccessful attempt to get an ambulance from Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH), Wallace sought to insulate the hospital and its ambulance services from any blame, citing MBJ’s arrangement with a private ambulance provider.
“If I was the CEO of that facility, that arrangement would include an ambulance that is at the facility at the busiest point of the airport,” said Wallace, citing what is a basic requirement for such facilities. “You can also have flight diversion because of accident or incidents, so if it is that that happens, then an ambulance should be at the airport at their medical facility to deal with incidents such as this.”
‘We need proper collaboration’
Cognizant of the impact that incidents like the death of Smith could have on Jamaica’s reputation, Wallace said the StJPHS will be initiating a meeting with the Shane Munroe-led MBJ management with a view to assisting the airport operator in putting measures in place to properly prepare to manage emergencies.
“I can say without fear or reservation, we (StJPHS) can meet the need of the patients both at MBJ and other spaces here in St James. What we need is proper collaboration, proper arrangements,” said Wallace. “So if it is that you are going to do private, then money becomes a focal point. You can’t be penny wise and pound foolish, and I believe that current arrangement with the providers, it is penny-wise and pound foolish. If I was managing there, an ambulance would have to be on site.”
Wallace said the StJPHS has what he called a ‘table-top experience’, which was developed to handle mass-casualty events and which he intends to share with the airport.
In responding to a recent statement by Dr Alfred Dawes, the People’s National Party (PNP) spokesman on health, in which Dawes suggested that CRH was underequipped with ambulances, Wallace said the hospital was currently equipped with four fully functional ambulances that are managed in such a way that one could easily be diverted to the airport if there was a need.
“The fact is four ambulances are there [at CRH], and all of them were in good working order. In fact, the last ambulance was put into service, a brand-new ambulance, about three weeks ago,” said Wallace. “They are equipped 100 per cent with EMS (emergency medical services), and we are training some more EMS persons – eight persons – because we are in the business of making sure that the patient arrives alive and can go back home to their family.”