By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

NATIONAL Emergency Medical Services Deputy Director Kevin Bell said the soaring crime rate is having a “tremendous impact” on staff members mentally and efforts are being made for more mental healthcare avenues.

He made the statement on Friday during the donation of 40 ballistic vests to the National Emergency Management Services Unit.

The donation comes at a time when the country currently has a murder count of 17 for 2024.

“We are a very busy high volume emergency response team and to add to the burnout, the normal burnout of our staff, is these murder scenes, these gunshot calls, it's having a tremendous impact on our staff members mentally and we are in the process of arranging even more mental health care avenues for our staff members as we speak,” Mr Bell said.

“They really see a lot. When we average it out, it is said that the average human or the average civilian or citizen will see maybe two to three horrific scenes in their lifetime. These men and women, they see those things on average six times a week. So if you do the math, that's how much impact it's having on these individuals and so mental health care for them is very important to us.”

The vest donations were coordinated through Global Emergency Management Consulting Group COO Dr Hazedean Smith. He explained the vests were secured through generous donations from fire departments in the Central Florida area. There also will be tactical emergency casualty care training.

He explained the vests are level three vests, which are recommended by National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) 3000 as appropriate due to first responders not being law enforcement.

“We're not preparing them to go into the hot zone,” he said. “We're preparing them to interact within the warm area of a particular incident. Hence there's no chest plates in the front or the back. So that's the idea behind having a ballistic vest for EMS providers.”

Dr Smith emphasised that there have seen many incidents across the Caribbean and also in the United States that require a change in response plans and preparedness for EMS providers.

“So the public health authorities support and the diaspora involvement are very vital in fortifying the pre-hospital readiness here in The Bahamas. The efforts of Global Emergency Services Consulting Group, in assisting with these donations, really it's dear to my heart.

“The Caribbean is dear to my heart, The Bahamas is dear to my heart. So I really feel that it was important to ensure that we provide as much support as we can in terms of getting these donated vests here to The Bahamas and the training that goes along with it.”

Mr Bell expressed the number one priority in emergency medical services and response to emergency scenes is safety of personnel. The deputy director added that the donation marks a huge leap of progress in the department as they provide even more safety devices for staff members.

“As was already mentioned, we do respond to a lot of emergencies, namely, gunshot incidents. There's always the potential for that scene to become a hot zone for our staff and so now that they have the necessary gear – should something like that happen, they would be more protected,” Mr Bell said.

He detailed the safety measures for first responders that are still in place.

“Prior to this, what would happen is, when we get a call for a gunshot wound, our crew members would stay a distance away from the scene. Perhaps two corners away from the scene, and await the arrival of the police on the scene and then the police would confirm from their control room, where our dispatcher sits, that the scene is now safe and they can enter. And so our dispatchers will radio to the ambulance and say, okay, police are on scene, you can proceed.”

The next safety item to be acquired will be ballistic helmets.