Ministry of Health Trains Medical Staff on FAST Ultrasound Method

The Ministry of Health and Wellness has been hosting training sessions for medical staff countrywide to improve their response in treating victims of traffic accidents. Yesterday the ministry held the final session in a series of trainings on the Focused Assessment in Sonography for Trauma (FAST) ultrasound method. The trainings were facilitated by specialists from Far Eastern Memorial Hospital in Taiwan in collaboration with the Taiwanese International Cooperation Development Fund (ICDF). Francis Morey, Deputy Director of Hospital Services and Allied Health for the Ministry, explained that the trainings are one of the ways the Ministry is responding to the high level of traffic accident-related deaths in Belize. Morey explained the use of the FAST ultrasound method and how it will benefit accident victims.

Morey added that the Ministry has been hosting training sessions in various aspects of the medical field for doctors and nurses to improve the delivery of care for accident victims, to increase their chances of survival. 

The Ministry is also working on training sessions later this year in collaboration with partners such as the United States Embassy and the Baylor College of Medicine, on other aspects of emergency treatment. He stressed that the Ministry is working to balance having medical staff attend trainings without affecting the delivery of service.