Dr. Nicole Dawkins-Wright Receives CD for Service In Healthcare

For Dr. Nicole Dawkins-Wright, the National Honour bestowed on her for her contribution to healthcare is not simply a recognition of professional achievement.

It is an affirmation of a journey driven by a deep commitment to improving emergency care and strengthening Jamaica’s health system.

Dr. Dawkins-Wright was one of several Jamaicans who were honoured at the Ceremony of Investiture on National Heroes Day, October 19, with the Order of Distinction in the Rank of Commander (CD).

The Director of Emergency, Disaster Management and Special Services (EDMSS) in the Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW) has spent more than two decades working to improve how Jamaica prepares for and responds to emergencies, disasters and public health crises. Dr. Dawkins-Wright has served as EDMSS Director since 2018.

Despite the scope of her contribution, Dr. Dawkins-Wright admits that being recognised by her country came as a surprise.

“When the officer called me, I laughed the whole time. Because I said, okay, this must be a prank,” she recalls.

The National Honour, she says, is particularly meaningful because she has always seen herself simply as someone doing the work she loves.

Dr. Dawkins-Wright’s journey in emergency medicine began at the clinical level. In 2003, as an emergency physician, she became one of the first formally trained emergency physicians assigned to a public hospital in a rural area.

At St. Ann’s Bay Regional Hospital, she worked to strengthen emergency care and workforce development, including establishing in-service training for emergency department workers and helping to establish the facility as a training centre for resuscitation courses.

Her responsibilities extended across the North East Regional Health Authority, covering St. Ann, St. Mary and Portland, where she worked to standardise procedures and protocols across hospitals in the region and became involved in training healthcare workers in emergency care.

The EDMSS Director has also served as a guest lecturer at The University of the West Indies, contributing to undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in areas such as disaster management.

Dr. Dawkins-Wright’s work expanded beyond routine clinical care into emergency preparedness and disaster management. She served as a hospital disaster coordinator and chaired a committee established to support Jamaica’s preparations for Cricket World Cup 2007.

She points out that her experiences at the hospital level eventually led her towards policy and national-level emergency and disaster management, which she embraced as “par for the course”.

“I realised what I was trained to do couldn’t exactly do the full scope of what I was doing, so I had to make some adjustments,” she explains.

It was, however, a difficult experience involving a patient that became a defining moment and turning point in her career.

The experience left her distressed and discouraged, but also prompted her to consider how she could help change the system.

“I was reminded, you’re either part of the problem, or you’re part of the solution,” she says.

“So, I said, okay, I’m going to get into this business and see what I can do,” she tells JIS News. That decision would shape the next chapter of her career.

At the Ministry, Dr. Dawkins-Wright helped to build out Disaster Risk Management activities and strengthen the connection between emergency care and public health.

She eventually became involved in the Smart Health Care Facilities Programme, which introduced her to the Climate Action and Health portfolio and broadened her understanding of health-system resilience.

Dr. Dawkins-Wright highlights that she also recognised the importance of preparing healthcare workers to manage the psychological demands of emergencies.

This led to efforts to develop protocols and training in mental health and psychosocial support for staff working in emergency operation centres.

During her tenure, Jamaica faced a succession of significant challenges, including dengue outbreaks, severe weather events, COVID-19 and Mpox.

Dr. Dawkins-Wright has served as National Health Disaster Coordinator and led the Emergency Operations Centre during these emergencies. She also helped to strengthen Jamaica’s capacity through training in mass casualty management and the Incident Command System.

She believes that it is doing the necessary work and ensuring that systems are in place and at an acceptable level of preparedness that enables the health system to respond when it is placed under pressure.

“It’s this groundwork that would have been laid before that allowed us to be able to pivot when the system was stressed,” she says.

A major part of her philosophy has been that effective emergency response cannot depend on one individual.

“It’s never about what I can do. It’s how I can get the team to galvanise around a mission and what is that mission,” she says.

For Dr. Dawkins-Wright, coordination is particularly important in a resource-constrained environment.

“When you’re short on resources like we are, the best way to get around it is to ensure you have optimal coordination,” she explains.

She highlights that her approach has also been shaped by personal experiences with the health system.

As a child, she recalls her mother having to take her over a long distance to access healthcare, because there was no vehicular access to the area where they lived.

“I said, you know, that’s something that needs to be changed in Jamaica’s system,” she recalls.

That experience has remained with her throughout her career, reinforcing her belief that the health system must never lose sight of the person at the centre of care.

“I’ve never forgotten that because of my own personal experience as a child,” she notes.

Dr. Dawkins-Wright is also a breast cancer survivor and highlights that her experience as a patient further strengthened her commitment to patient advocacy and people-centred care.

“I recognise that one of the issues we have in our system is the need for advocacy for patients and what they need,” she says.

The EDMSS Director believes that while some patients may have the same diagnosis, they do not necessarily have the same needs.

“We have to try to maintain the fact that it’s people that we’re serving. It’s not about just giving health service. We are serving people at their worst,” she tells JIS News.

For Dr. Dawkins-Wright, healthcare must offer treatment as well as reassurance and comfort. It is this combination of clinical experience, systems thinking, compassion and commitment to public service that has defined her career.

She remains humbled by the National Honour, particularly because she never set out seeking recognition.

“I am thrilled, which is an understatement, that I’m being recognised for doing something that I love to do,” she says, adding that her commitment to public service remains strong.

“I want to be part of development. I want to be part of a system that gets better. And that’s why I remain in public service,” the EDMSS Director emphasises.

“I know we’re doing well, but I do know we can do better. And I want to be part of that process where it gets better, and as long as I’m able, that’s what I’m going to be doing,” she muses.