Georgetown : The Ministry of Home Affairs handed over two ambulances, costing $15.3M to the Guyana Fire Service (GFS). These vehicles will be complemented with a core of trained medical attendants and first aiders.
This intervention will aid in one of the service’s key areas of work, search and rescue, which the Ministry has been working towards establishing.
Speaking at the brief ceremony in front of the Ministry’s Building, Brickdam, yesterday, Chief Fire Officer, Marlon Gentle in highlighting the main functions carried out by the GFS, said, “ The Guyana Fire Service has its role and functions, it operates under three umbrellas, the first and primary one being the extinction of fires, and the protection of lives and properties from fires, the second one, being the saving of lives and of course the third one, aiding the sick and the injured.”
He said he was pleased to know that the service can now return to carrying out its third function effectively, aiding the sick and the injured and at the same time rendering humanitarian services to the Guyanese population.
Gentle added that sometimes the fire service teams find themselves at a disadvantage due to the fact that they are faced with the need for emergency medical attention on the scene, but do not have the necessary equipment, however, this will no longer be a problem.
He noted that two years ago at the officers’ retreat, the issue of getting back into the ambulance service was raised and the proposals were put forward and accepted by the government and procurement of these ambulances began last year.
The Fire Chief expressed gratitude to Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee and the Ministry for this intervention and highlighted that the vehicles should be out on the roads as soon as next month.
Minister Rohee, noted that the funding for these vehicles was provided in the 2013 Budget and in this year’s Budget money was also allocated for the procurement of two other such vehicles.
The Minister termed the hand over a historic event in the record of the Fire Service. “The Guyana Fire Service is now, re-embracing and rediscovering that service that was once provided in the 1950s, when it was then known as the Guyana Fire and Ambulance Service.”
He added that the service will proceed in the direction of establishing a Guyana Fire and Rescue Service, noting that these ambulances are a manifestation of the fact that the service is indeed moving in that direction.
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