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Telethon Organizers Praised By Fire Department

Officers of the Saint Lucia Fire Department are pleased with the assistance they will get from monies raised at last Sunday’s National COVID-19 Telethon.

Image of Fernando James, Emergency Medical Services Director for the Department’s Northern Division
Fernando James, Emergency Medical Services Director for the Department’s Northern Division

Fernando James, who is the Emergency Medical Services Director for the Department’s Northern Division today, April 14, 2020 told The VOICE that personal protective equipment for each officer on the frontline of this pandemic are always needed therefore a big thank you to the organizers of the telethon must be given.

He emphasized this by saying that just this past weekend officers responded to 10 cases believed to have symptoms of COVID-19. Further, the Department is the lead support agency to the Ministry of Health when it comes to transporting confirmed cases of COVID-19 and persons to be quarantined at the Ministry of Health facilities.

The Department has three ambulances designated to the transporting of people between isolation and quarantine centers

“Our staffing is still limited in terms of day to day operations,” James said.

The Department get calls to pick up persons showing symptoms of the disease from both the public via the 911 number and the Ministry of Health. According to James law enforcement is always on the scene whenever officers from the Fire Department moves in to pick up someone showing symptoms of the disease.

“It’s a joint effort,” he said.

Although the exact figure has yet to be tallied, The VOICE learned that close to, if not three million dollars were raised at Sunday’s telethon.

The telethon was on behalf of all our COVID-19 front-line soldiers and the vulnerable in the society.

“This is truly a testament to what we can achieve when we work together. Let’s continue the battle, by doing our part to keep each other safe, with the ultimate goal of defeating COVID-19,” was Prime Minister Allen Chastanet’s messaged on his official Facebook page over the weekend.

He said a GoFundMe Campaign will continue to run for the next 30 days for persons who missed out on the telethon. They could make their contributions via the following link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/c9ehpz-saintlucia-frontline-work… #LetsDoThisTogether #StayHome #SaveLives #DefeatCOVID19

Micah George is an established name in the journalism landscape in St. Lucia. He started his journalism tutelage under the critical eye of the Star Newspaper Publisher and well known journalist, Rick Wayne, as a freelancer. A few months later he moved to the Voice Newspaper under the guidance of the paper’s recognized editor, Guy Ellis in 1988.

Since then he has remained with the Voice Newspaper, progressing from a cub reporter covering court cases and the police to a senior journalist with a focus on parliamentary issues, government and politics. Read full bio...

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