Despite a couple of hiccups recently, the Cayman Islands Ambulance Service continues to serve all districts in Grand Cayman on a 24-hour-per-day basis.
Ambulance Service manager Stephen Duval acknowledged that the service did not have all its stations open for a 12-hour period recently.
‘We had one or two cases where we had to close a station because of mechanical problems or in urgent circumstances when we’ve fallen short in staff,’ he said.
In one case, two of the service’s four vehicles were recalled for replacement of their wire harnesses, Mr. Duval said.
In addition to the mechanical problems, Mr. Duval said the service also faces an extreme staff shortage.
‘But we’re in an aggressive recruitment process right now,’ he said. ‘We’ve conducted quite a few interviews recently.’
In the interim, Mr. Duval said the staff members are being paid overtime to make sure there is island-wide 24-hours-per-day ambulance service.
‘Only on rare occasions have we had had to close a station,’ he said.
The government’s Ambulance Service operates from three strategically placed stations, with locations in West Bay, George Town and North Side.
Even if one station closes, all of Grand Cayman is still serviced by the other two stations, although response times could lengthen.
If forced to close a station in an emergency, Mr. Duval said North Side is not the preferred station to close because of its longer response time.
Mr. Duval said the service had a long-term plan to alleviate the staffing problems.
‘Our goal is to develop a local training programme to get young, suitable people to come into the service,’ he said.
‘If we can train and recruit locally, it will go a long way in helping the sustainability of the Service. That’s the ultimate goal.’
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