UPDATE: Critically ill JDF recruit gets medical care in Florida
KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) recruit who was said to have been in critical condition in the Intensive Care Unit at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) has been flown to a facility in Florida, USA, for further treatment. JDF training scaled back after 80 recruits manifest flu-like symptoms
The disclosure that some 80 recruits started manifesting flu-like symptoms last week was made on Tuesday by the Ministry of Health.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Winston De La Haye on Tuesday told OBSERVER ONLINE that of the 80 recruits that have been affected, “there are six persons who are more severely affected than the others”, while “one, in particular, is severely ill, but is stabilised in the Intensive Care Unit at the University Hospital (of the West Indies)”.
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De La Haye, this morning divulged that the recruit has arrived safely in Florida and that a parent and a medical officer from the JDF will join him shortly.
The chief medical officer said that part of the management of the recruits’ illness was sedation and that the ministry has still not identified the illness; however, he said that they are quickly trying to do so with the help of the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO).
He said the main problem with the recruit is with the respiratory system, “meaning the ability for his lungs to appropriately aerate and have air pass into his lungs”.
De La Haye said that the decision to send the recruit overseas for treatment was made after “the consultant in the Intensive Care Unit at UHWI recommended that we get him to a facility where they can provide the appropriate assistance to his lungs for breathing”.
He explained that this is also done in Jamaica, “however, the team from the Florida institution engaged in a minor procedure… which was successful and our doctors from here also participated and we are now in dialogue as a collaborative effort with the UHWI and this overseas facility in looking at establishing that kind of capacity here so that we will be able to conduct those procedures in the future”.
Shanica Blair
