BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, Jul. 11. 2018 – ONE day after a protest exercise by a group of concerned citizens over the treatment of the late Tau Johnson following an accident on Saturday (Jul. 07), has drawn criticisms and an investigation by the JNF Hospital.
On Saturday, police said in a statement that preliminary investigations by the law men revealed that 20-year-old Johnson of Buckley’s Housing Project was riding a motorcycle when police officers on patrol attempted to stop him in the vicinity of College Street Ghaut.
They explained that officers got out of their vehicle and signaled for Johnson to stop but he did not. They returned to their vehicle and chased after him.
Law men claimed that he ran a red light at Bakers Corners, and while on Wellington Road, he sought to maneuver through several vehicles and crash – he was later pronounced dead at the JNF Hospital.
However, videos circulating showed the young man was not correctly treated after the incident which many purport exacerbated his internal injuries.
The Ministry of Health in a statement today, said it is launching an investigation an investigation was launched on Saturday, July 7th, 2018 regarding the response of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) team of the Joseph N. France General Hospital to the fatal accident that occurred on the said day.
While expressing condolences to the family and friends of the deceased, management of the Ministry of Health disclosed that their investigation into the EMS’ handling of the case on Saturday was spawned by a widely circulated amateur video which partially documents the handling of the case by a two-member team of Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT).
“The Ministry is rather disturbed by the contents of the video, and on Monday suspended both of the EMT officers who responded to the emergency call. These officers will remain on suspension for the duration of the investigation, with a final determination of their future employment being made by the Public Services Commission (PSC) at the end of the investigation,” the Ministry said.
A meeting has been scheduled for today with EMT staff to: 1. document the ministry’s dissatisfaction and disappointment with the handling of the emergency call, 2. reinforce the Ministry’s demand for the highest standards of professionalism and practical application of skill sets among the EMTs who are well-trained and expected, when called upon, to serve the people of the country with distinction, compassion and respect.
“The Ministry of Health wishes to further emphasize that Saturday’s unfortunate incident warrants an entire retraining and re-sensitization of all EMTs regarding their expected response to emergency calls, in particular those involving accident-related trauma and injuries. This training programme will be immediately implemented.”
