Americans are in Anguilla for a week long training exercise of medical, health and emergency medical technicians led by Mrs Doreen Gumbs-Vines. The training covers basic and advanced cardiac life support or CPR; EMT re-certification; paediatric advanced life support, neonatal resuscitation and other related services according to press reports.
Vines said that arrangements for training were made by Dr. Kennedy Simmonds, the former Director of Medical Services with support from Mrs Meredith Gumbs who was in charge of Human Resources. Gumbs-Vines is a Chief EMT Officer and Paramedic in the Washington, DC and the team arrived with support from the World-wide International Emergency Medical Services/Howard University Hospital Outreach Programme.
“This team originated from a vision shared by Steve MacDowell, a paramedic and one of the supervisors in the Ambulance Department at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, and me,” Mrs Gumbs-Vines told The Anguillian on Tuesday. “We actually met at an international conference in St Martin which was another of my visions.”
Mrs Gumbs-Vines is based in the US with roots in Anguilla and the French Caribbean.
“I can say that in terms of wanting to be in the forefront, Anguilla may be a small island but it has done some big things in terms of keeping ahead with the medical component, and we are here to give our support for Anguilla to do that; I have learnt over the years that if you have a legacy to leave behind, let it be something that you know you can help somebody with. That is pretty much my motto. There are twelve of us in the team. We made arrangements to come to Anguilla and the team includes nurses, physicians, paramedics and individuals who are qualified to do this type of training. They have come ready, willing and respectful of where they are,” she said.
The visiting delegation also includes Dr Wendell Jones, Chief Medical Officer at VA Hospital in Dallas, Texas; Dr Norman Rice, Chief Anaesthesiologist also in Dallas, Texas; Mr Robert Powell a former EMT Coordinator in the Department of Health in Washington, DC; Mr Arthwin Bradley, a Paramedic Instructor at the US Pentagon; Mr Larry Dury, a Neonatal Resuscitation Programme Instructor; and Nkechi Ileka, Director Nursing, both at Laurel Regional Hospital in Michigan.
