Councillor wants burn unit at Savanna-la-Mar Hospital

COUNCILLOR CEBERT McFarlane of the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation (WMC) is calling on the Government to establish a ‘burn unit’ at the Savanna-la-Mar Hospital to treat persons who suffer serious burns that require specialised treatment.

With Westmoreland arguably the nation’s ‘board house’ capital, and its long history of devastating cane fires, McFarlane thinks that establishing such a facility in Savanna-la-Mar would be ideally placed and would save many lives.

“We are more prone to injuries coming out of fires, and I have noticed that there is no burn unit in western Jamaica, so when somebody gets burnt with fire, you have to fly them out of the island,” said McFarlane, while speaking at last Thursday’s monthly meeting of the WMC.

“I am suggesting that as a council, whether by resolution, or otherwise, that we call on the Government to establish a burn unit at the Savanna-la-Mar General Hospital. It has space and it has all the requirements,” added McKenzie, who told his fellow councillors that he would be putting a resolution on the matter on the table at the next sitting of the WMC.

UNFORTUNATE EVENT

Last month, Hanover resident Nicola Clarke, who was doused with gasolene and set ablaze by her jealous boyfriend, had to be airlifted to the United States for treatment because Jamaica does not have a burn unit.

The Kingston-based non-profit organisation, Sanmerna Foundation Limited, which is underwriting the cost of Clarke’s treatment in the United States, have indicated that they are willing to spearhead the establishment of a burn unit here in Jamaica.

Like the Sanmerna Foundation, McFarlane believes Jamaica needs a burn unit because not all burn victims might be as fortunate as Clarke to get the required financial support to travel overseas for treatment.

“How many people can hire an airbus [ambulance] to go overseas, or how much grant funding is there to assist those in need when they are victims of fires?” asked McFarlane, in seeking to press home his point.

According to him, while he would prefer to have the burn unit established in Westmoreland, he would not oppose to having the unit established at one of the other major health facilities in the region.

Interestingly, Dr Delroy Fray, clinical coordinator at the Cornwall Regional Hospital, where Clarke was treated before she was airlifted overseas, said there are competent medical personnel at the Type A hospital who are able to adequately treat burn victims, intimating that with a fully equipped burn unit at the facility, there would be no need for patients to go overseas for treatment.