By LEANDRA ROLLE 

Tribune Chief Reporter 

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

Emergency Medical staff and Health Minister Dr Michael Darville are offering starkly different accounts of the state of the country’s ambulance fleet, with frontline workers warning that a critical shortage is endangering lives, while the minister blames staff shortages and downplays concerns about the vehicles themselves.

Emergency Medical Technicians (eMTs) speaking to The Tribune on condition of anonymity said only three ambulances — one of them a recently acquired model — are currently operational in New Providence. The rest, they claimed, are out of service, leaving the capital unable to meet the island’s emergency transport demands.

One EMT said at least eight ambulances are needed to cover New Providence adequately, noting that EMS handles not only 911 emergencies but also hospital transports for dialysis patients and bedridden individuals. They said the shortage, ongoing for about three months, has pushed response times well beyond acceptable limits. High-priority calls, which should be answered within five to eight minutes, are now reportedly taking as long as 45 minutes. For less urgent cases, wait times can stretch to two hours.

An EMT described the burden on the system, pointing to shifts where responders have had to manage around 25 calls with only a few vehicles in operation. With fewer units and several colleagues on industrial leave, remaining staff are struggling to keep up, they said.

Dr Darville acknowledged the staffing challenges but rejected claims that only three ambulances are operational, calling them exaggerated. He said seven to nine ambulances are currently in service in New Providence and explained that some vehicles appearing inactive are actually reserved for deployment to the Family Islands under the EMT training programme.

He said maintenance issues are expected with such heavily used equipment but insisted that the claim of only three functioning ambulances was inaccurate.

“There’s always some elements of mild mechanical issues with all of these equipment but you’re going to have people nitpicking with everything,” Dr Darville said. “Ambulances are operational 24 hours a day, most of them, and then some are down for maintenance.”

EMTs, however, maintain that the ministry has not adequately addressed longstanding problems with the fleet — particularly the 14 new ambulances imported from Spain last year. One EMT said the vehicles are too small to fit essential equipment or accommodate larger patients, making them unsuitable for front-line emergency response.

They also reported persistent mechanical issues, including faulty emergency lights, electrical problems, and malfunctioning brakes. One large ambulance had to be pulled from service after its brakes failed while responding to a call. According to a staff member, responders narrowly avoided a collision.

Another EMT raised safety concerns about the stretchers in the new vehicles, which reportedly only lock in fully raised or fully lowered positions and cannot adjust to a safe mid-level height. They said the design has led to injuries, including one case in which a responder now requires surgery after a stretcher’s wheels failed to retract during a lift.

Staff said EMS leadership is aware of the issues and has repeatedly flagged the need for additional units, but claimed the Public Hospitals Authority has been slow to respond.

One EMT said the lack of urgency in addressing the problems has led to growing fears that the entire system could collapse.