File photo of ambulances received by the Southern Regional Health Authority (SRHA) last year.
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Michael Bent, Regional Director for the Southern Regional Health Authority (SRHA)
By Nakinskie Robinson
The Southern Regional Health Authority (SRHA) says it is now more prepared to meet the demands of the region with the procurement of nine new vehicles.
The regional authority, which covers Manchester, St. Elizabeth and Clarendon, received three ambulances, four utility pick-ups, a staff bus and a truck, at a cost of $99 million.
SRHA Regional Director Michael Bent said the new vehicles will be deployed across primary facilities within the region.
"Our fleet, in particular ambulances, they do hundreds of trips, as a matter of fact, thousands each year. And so what we are doing is putting more reliable vehicles in the fleet, and each hospital will have at least two ambulances," he said.
He noted that older units will be transferred to clinics and health centres in the region to respond to emergencies at those facilities, should the need arise.
The ambulances were retrofitted with upgraded features including refrigerators to better transport blood specimen.
The procurement brings the number of ambulances from 18 to 21 and the overall fleet, including vector control vehicles, to 90.
Meanwhile, Herschel Ismail, Director of Facilities, Operations and Maintenance at the Health Authority, said the move was necessary given the more than 2,000 ambulance trips done annually.
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