A number of health facilities across St. Vincent and the Grenadines will benefit from a donation of Emergency Response Equipment from the Republic of China on Taiwan (ROC) through its Public Health Emergency Response System Enhancement Project.
The new equipment, manufactured and sourced from Taiwan, were officially handed over during a ceremony held on Friday March 24th, 2023 at the Beachcombers Hotel, where officials from the Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment, the Taiwanese Diplomatic Corps and the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force were also privy to demonstrations of the specialized medical equipment.
Ambassador of the ROC, His Excellency Peter Sha-Lin said, in his remarks, that the project is designed to improve the capacity to save lives for Vincentians, enhance the quality of health services provided at various public health centers and further strengthen public health awareness across St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
State-of-the-art portable ultrasound machines, Defibrillators, ICU ventilators, automated chest compression devices and a host of other life-saving equipment valued at over Two Hundred and Forty Thousand Dollars ($240,000.00) were included in the donation which represents the tangible aspect of the project.
In 2022, a total of 10 medical professionals completed a 3-month Emergency Medical Technician (EMT-1) and Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) training of trainer (ToT) course in Taiwan. Another cohort of 10 are expected to commence this EMT-1 training in May 2023 to further enhance the capacity of local personnel within the health sector.
The 4-year project officially commenced November 21st, 2021 and thus far has contributed significantly to the enhancement of the local emergency response services.
