QEH Impact: Surge in Shootings Strains Premier Health Facility's Emergency Resources

The uptick in shootings is taking a toll on this country’s premier health care facility.

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) is reporting that the latest incident – Tuesday night’s shooting which left five men nursing gunshot wounds – placed “some pressure” on its emergency resources.

Communications specialist for the QEH Shane Sealy also told the DAILY NATION that the upsurge in shootings over the last three weeks has placed greater burden on and already stretched Accident & Emergency Department (A& E).

New chief executive officer Neil Clark said he will be meeting with the Deputy Commissioner of Police to discuss improved security for staff and patients.

“There is a triage system for the A& E and when you have five trauma victims coming in at once, many resources are driven towards those five urgent patients because they are either Category 1 or 2, which means they must be seen immediately. The medical team’s attention is drawn to those patients because those patients need life-saving treatment,” Sealy said.

“So less urgent cases who are waiting to be seen may be required to wait a little bit longer until the attention of the medical resources can be turned to them. Those patients may have to wait longer as the more critical patients are stabilised or sent off to surgery, so it is certainly having an impact on our resources,” he added.

Police said Tuesday’s shooting took place around 11:15 p.m. in Shelton Lane, The Pine, St Michael, when two men on a motorcycle approached and opened fire on the group. (See box) On June 12, gunmen opened fire in the vicinity of the Aberdeen Jones Centre in Gall Hill, Christ Church,

killing a 19-year-old and injuring four others.

The increased gun violence was instrumental in the QEH issuing an advisory to the public regarding wait times at the A& E.