A Cuban mother reported the long hours of waiting her son had to endure to be transferred by ambulance to a hospital after suffering a serious chest injury.
Three hours at the Regla Polyclinic waiting for an ambulance. Enough already! This is abuse! Where are the ambulances in this country? The ones they mentioned on the news, where are they?, wondered the woman indignantly in a live stream on her social media.
Identified on Facebook as Amarilis Pérez Ravelo, the mother referred to the information disseminated last December by official media outlets, according to which the Cuban government had acquired a batch of 99 ambulances worth 4 million dollars.
However, despite announcements like that, the reality is that the services of the Integrated Medical Emergency System (SIUM) on the Island continue to be deficient and highly criticized by the population.
"They tell me 'there is no availability, there is no line'", indicated Pérez Ravelo, repeating the response provided by the administrative staff in charge of requesting SIUM services.
Finally, after almost four hours of waiting, the ambulance arrived, and the family was able to be assisted at Juan Manuel Márquez Hospital, where the minor was admitted to the surgery room.
Despite the harshness of his words, Pérez Ravelo acknowledged the good treatment by the doctors and healthcare staff at the Regla Polyclinic, who did everything possible to treat his son's serious injury.
It is unknown how the wound on the minor was caused. Apparently, he fell and impaled himself with a piece of a metal object on the left side of his chest.
"The children of the leaders have an ambulance parked outside their house," protested the mother indignantly as she waited for the specialized transportation.
In a live broadcast that took place after her son was admitted, the mother explained that he was "fine, out of danger."
A thousand thanks to everyone for the concern for my baby, thank God he is out of danger. He is responding well to the antibiotics, thanks to all who have helped me in one way or another," wrote the woman on her Facebook wall.
Last May, the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) of Cuba reported that they only had 39.6% of the ambulances necessary to respond to various medical emergencies.
The data was revealed by Minister José Ángel Portal Miranda during the annual review of the organization, which analyzed the situation in 2022.
In many places, the response time to health emergencies is prolonged, which was caused, among other factors, by organizational elements and a low technical availability coefficient of ambulances, which stood at 39.6%, explained the official.
Often, on social media, Cubans denounce the lack of ambulances to transfer people in delicate health conditions to hospitals who urgently need medical attention. Sometimes, the ambulance has not arrived and the patients have died without even receiving professional assistance.
In social media, many people express their concern about the serious crisis of Public Health in Cuba, due to the lack of supplies, medications, ambulances, and suitable conditions in medical centers to attend to the population, problems that have worsened in recent years and that the government has been unable to solve.
What do you think?
COMMENT.Filed under: