Following the death of a man on Harris Promenade, San Fernando yesterday, the city’s mayor intends to ask the health minister for an ambulance service for the community.
Mayor Kazim Hosein said this morning, he also intends to include a request for Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) training to be made available to members of the public.
“When a life is lost everybody talks about it, but I heard someone say that the ambulance is used to transport people between health institutions alone,” Hosein said. “They must have that service for the community and if they don't have it already, they need to have to it in place.”
“I have already drafted a letter to the Health Minister asking him to implement a service for the people of the community. This cannot continue as it is.”
He added, “I am also including a request for CPR to be taught to members of the public. Train people so they can do something when a member of their family, a loved one or even a stranger, is in distress.”
Hosein’s call comes after Keith Sitahal, 63, of Riversdale Road, Williamsville collapsed on the Promenade yesterday.
Hosein, who was chairing a city council meeting at the time, intervened when he learned the man had been waiting some 45 minutes for an ambulance to take him to the San Fernando General Hospital.
He called Deyalsingh and was promised an ambulance would be dispatched. However, soon after, Hosein ordered employees of the city’s Disaster Management Unit (DMU) to take the man to the hospital.
Sitahal later died at the institution.