Human Resource for COVID-19 Critical Patients is Limited

Marvin Manzanero

So, as you heard the critical case had to be transferred to the K.H.M.H.  One of the reasons is because she needs ventilator support, but the Western Regional Hospital doesn’t have a non-invasive ventilator.  Doctor Marvin Manzanero warned that human resources is of concern. He states that if there are many hospitalizations, it would put pressure on the trained medical professionals to offer ventilator support to patients.

Dr. Marvin Manzanero, Director of Health Services

“We have to also understand what our health system has to offer and our challenges in terms of human resources. Now, why am I saying this? We have two three intensivists in Belize City and no intensivist that is doing intensive care work outside of Belize City. So, even if you have twenty-twenty-five ventilators in your referral hospital, you don’t have intensivist that are going to be managing that. Granted, you may train internists and that is a part of the process that has been ongoing but you are still not going to have enough. This morning we checked with Deputy Director and we may have less than ten Belizean internists spread out across the country. Having an I.C.U. bed with a ventilator is not as easy as just setting up a ventilator; you need staff, you may need up to two nurses per ventilated patient in an I.C.U. and then you have to talk about shifts, two or three shifts. It is not as easy as just setting up a ventilator and assume that it will necessarily solve the problem.”