Fewer trauma cases at May Pen Hospital - Officials credit state of emergency for lower numbers
May Pen Hospital says it has recorded fewer motor vehicle accident victims, since the state of public emergency (SOE) was declared in Clarendon in September.
St Andrade Sinclair, CEO of the hospital, told CENTRAL STAR that according to the figures recorded by the hospital, motor vehicle accidents have decreased in September of this year.
"There has been a dramatic decrease from the month before ... the state of emergency was implemented on September 5, and the numbers have decreased," he said. "In June, there were 84 motor vehicle accidents ... 69 in July; there were 55 in August and in September, there were 42. So you see a big decrease from the month before. From 84 to 69 to 42, and it's trending down. It continues to trend down."
According to Sinclair, the 42 accidents in September are the second lowest number recorded for a month in 2019 thus far, behind 29 in February.
'A noticeable decrease'
Meanwhile, a doctor at the hospital says she has seen a noticeable decrease in bike related accidents since September.
"I can tell you that the amount of bike accidents have decreased since the state of emergency in Clarendon. A lot of bikers ... (have been taken) off the road since they are illegal and have no licences," the doctor said.
She said this reduction in accidents has cushioned the overwhelming number of urgent cases that the hospital has had to attend to on a usual basis.
"They aren't crashing, so we are not so busy with major trauma cases because of that. Similarly, we get a few gunshot victims, but not as rampant as when there was no state of emergency," she added.
The hospital also saw a decrease in gunshot cases in September, as only four were recorded, versus six in July and seven in August.
Sinclair also told CENTRAL STAR, "the state of emergency has had a tremendous impact on the hospital and that's good. We have seen a reduction is motor vehicle accidents, stabbings, gunshot wounds ... just all the drama that is usually associated with crime and violence."