MOH Says Emergency Health Response Ready

Director of Emergency Disaster Management and Special Services in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Marion Bullock Ducasse, has said that the island’s emergency response capabilities are intact, and the health sector remains operational and fully able to respond to emergencies.
She was speaking at a press conference at Jamaica House Wednesday (September 29), where she provided an update on the status of the emergency health services, as the island continues to take a battering from the remnants of a severe weather system.
The press conference was convened by Prime Minister, the Hon. Bruce Golding, with presentations from representatives of a number of critical response agencies and ministries.
Dr. Ducasse noted that the national emergency operation centre is now activated at the Bustamante Hospital for Children in Kingston, and that all hospitals remain open and operational. However, she said that while facilities in the North East region, including the Port Antonio, Port Maria and St. Ann’s Bay hospitals, were offering full services, others are offering only emergency and in-patient services.
In terms of critical facilities, she said all blood collection centres are operational, except for the main Blood Bank on Slipe Pen Road, which is providing services from its National Chest Hospital facility and the blood supply is adequate, islandwide.
In terms of children’s homes and places of safety, she said food supplies are adequate, and where additional water is needed it would be provided.