THERE have been renewed calls for the establishment of a fully equipped burn unit in Jamaica after Nicola Clarke, who had been doused with gasoline and set on fire in Hanover, died at Joseph M Still Burn Center in Atlanta, Georgia, USA on Sunday.

Clarke, who was allegedly ignited by a jealous boyfriend in May, was airlifted to the Georgia burn centre with the help of Sanmerna Foundation Limited and other entities.

The burn victim had begun the necessary treatment, but despite putting “up a good fight”, according to relatives, she died at 5:20 pm on Sunday, plunging her family and the entities that came together to have her airlifted to the USA into mourning. The accused has been in police custody since the incident.

Stephen Josephs, project manager of Sanmerna Foundation, said on Monday that despite her body being burnt beyond recognition, Clarke could have been saved had she received crucial care at a local burn unit. He told the Jamaica Observer that Sanmerna won’t stop in its quest to see such a facility established, sharing that the foundation started pushing the agenda after St Andrew resident Kerry-Ann Collins died from severe burns following an explosion at her home last year. She reportedly died while an aircraft waited to take her to the US for emergency treatment and skin reconstruction.

Following Collins’ death, Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton had said the University Hospital of the West Indies has a unit that deals with minor burn cases. However, where individuals receive severe and life-threatening burns, they would have to seek the services of expert surgeons overseas, especially where reconstruction to tissues have to be done.

According to Josephs, Jamaica needs its own facilities to save lives.

“We started out focusing on burns in Jamaica because we realised that Kerry-Ann Collins died because we didn’t have the equipment to tend to her needs, like the machines to start immediately removing the toxins from her skin. The basic equipment needed is the skin graphing machine and a room that can fully isolate patients. Because their skin is opened, they can’t be around anybody else; they have to be in an isolated area away from infection.

“We tried to help Nicola Clarke, but when somebody gets burnt, you have to get them out or start treating them within 48 hours of the incident. Anything beyond 48 hours will be an uphill battle. If we had a burn unit, there would have been endless possibilities for them to start taking out the toxins that would have started to poison the body,” Josephs told the Observer on Monday.

He called on corporate Jamaica to recognise the need for the construction of a burn unit and begin pumping money into such an initiative. He shared, too, that experts from overseas have been engaged to design a unit to be built at the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH) and encouraged the Government to take note of the potential economic benefits in relation to health tourism.

“It is something costly but we have started the design with overseas partners, and we are looking to train some doctors and nurses so by the time the equipment comes here, it will not sit and wait. We have been having several meetings with even KPH. We have had several meetings, discussing and gathering data; the design is almost completed and we have an expert body surgeon who will be training the nurses and doctors in terms of operation of this unit when it gets here.

“We [Sanmerna] are not leaving it. We need to have a burn unit,” Josephs insisted. “It is a unique opportunity for Jamaica to engage in health tourism. We can use it because when I looked at the Caribbean, the only place… with a burn unit is Cuba. Because of the embargo, no private ambulance can fly to Cuba. It creates a unique opportunity for Jamaica to offer this type of service to the Caribbean, because it is needed. We can lead the Caribbean in health tourism from this as well.”

Meanwhile, Sanmerna Foundation Director Robert Whyte said that he was saddened and at a loss for words at Clarke’s passing. He told the Observer that she fought “a stiff battle”.

“We did everything in our powers to save her life. I am lost for words and saddened because me and my team put all our energies in trying to save her. It is a down moment for us now,” said Whyte.