Emergency services contracted to BERT
It used to be that if you called for an ambulance it might never come because there was no driver or maybe even no gas. So people found it more expedient to just hail a taxi and take an injured person to the hospital themselves. The Belize Emergency Response Team, BERT, has been working for several years now to improve this service and train personnel to begin treatment at the scene. As of this week the Karl Heusner Memorial has hired the non-profit BERT to manage the emergency response system for the hospital. Yvette Burks says not only will the service improve, it will still be an option for even the poorest Belizean.
Yvette Burks, BERT
“Having trained personnel only, between content having 24 hour staff for 365 days a year and being concentrated on the ambulance service, which is our intention to have it streamlined in a very short time, so that we are able to produce the kind of care that should be expected out there by the public.
The fare… well we can’t call them if we get into an accident or something happen because they want us to pay. That is a total misconception. We will always request a donation if at all possible. We don’t care if somebody can afford five dollars or five hundred because we do need to buy some fuel. However, we are not bill collectors; we will not be chasing people down. Please do not hesitate to call us. This is why we are here. If somebody has a heart attack, if somebody gets hurt or an accident or what ever, we are coming.
There are these cases that are called non-emergency transfers such as I am ill and I need to stay in the hospital for a while but I really don’t want to stay in Belize City because I do have a hospital in Belmopan. That is by choice or a transfer to get certain exams or transfers such as that. These are called non-emergency transfers and we do request a set donation for these.”
The emergency number for BERT is 90. Medical Chief of Staff Dr. Francis Smith says the contracting out of emergency services is part of the K.H.M.H.’s overall effort to streamline their operations. He says since BERT has successfully worked along with the hospital in the past and helped with training it was the natural choice for the contract. BERT’s office and staff lodging facilities are located close to the hospital just off Coney Drive. BERT, which has trained over 100 people throughout the country, will begin by covering Belize City and the Belize district and eventually expand to the other districts. The Mennonites of Spanish Lookout in the Cayo District have already requested and received training for 24 volunteers. They now have their own ambulance service for their community and anyone else who needs assistance in the area. BERT hopes other communities will consider such a venture. BERT’s next five-week training session begins in October and is free to anyone who is interested.
