Nurses Association calls on everyone to respect right-of-way for emergency vehicles

The Nurses Association of Belize is calling for immediate action on Government’s and the public’s parts to prevent avoidable accidents in the future. The release by the association follows the death of Jorge Vargas, Jr., who died in the horrific road accident on October 11 in Corozal District.  The association says that quote “The transport of patients by ambulance is a fundamental part of emergency medical services and care. Nurses accompany patients through necessity and as part of their job description. In doing so, nurses face the possibility of the unknown, undeniably endangering our lives whilst aiming to save lives” Unquote. It is because of incidents like this, the association wants everyone, especially drivers to respect the right of way of ambulances by immediately pulling over as close to the curb as possible and out of the way of the emergency vehicle. The association has also called on the Ministry of Health to invest in insurance packages for nurses. The association also wants an urgent review of Compendium of Allowance, including the ambulance allowance and the implementation of what they call a danger allowance to all nurses. The association is also calling for a review, approval and standardization of the Patient Transfer Standards, which is pending since September 2017. The association wants the Ministry of Health to create posts for EMTs at all hospitals, which frees up nurses to focus on hospitalised patients. As for the nurses in Tuesday’s accident, the association is also calling for the Ministry to cover some of their medical expenses.