At Caymanas Park, the welfare of horses and jockeys is priority number one, and the Gentlecare Ambulance Service has been working closely with promoter Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL) to provide the safest environment possible for jockeys both on race days and during the morning exercise sessions.

After working independently as the emergency and non-emergency medical care and transportation providers at Caymanas Park for 18 years, Gentlecare was awarded sole medical coverage to provide ambulance service in June 2019 under SVREL, which took over the operations of the park in 2017.

Orville Lee, managing director and founder of Gentlecare Ambulance Service, said his team enhanced the backup service of the medical doctors and nurses at the in-house Medical Holistic Centre located at the racetrack.

“We have assisted with the medical issues, such as stabilisation, giving fluids, removal of patients from stands, track, and stable area to the medical post,” Lee said.

Lee also said that his team at Gentlecare also assists with the provision of an on-site ambulance and emergency medical services during all training and racing hours.

“This includes the necessary staffing and equipment to perform advanced life support, and medical care for all fallen jockeys, which is the best way to get to the scene as soon as possible. Horse racing is the only sport in the world where an ambulance chases you around the track.

“The ambulance is staffed with two or three medics whose job it is to follow behind the racehorses and come to the aid of fallen jockeys. We take the jockey (s) off the track if they fall, stabilise them, and transport them to the medical post, where they will do their assessment with another team taking them to the hospital or wherever they need to go if that is the recommendation of the doctor on duty.

“On exercise mornings, we are stationed at a certain location on the racetrack and then, if a jockey should fall off his/her mount, that’s when we will respond,” said Lee, who has over 40 years of experience in the field of work.

According to Lee, the most sophisticated technology in the industry, combined with dedicated, caring professionals, has made Gentlecare a leader in the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) field and the most equipped ambulance company in the country.

“Gentlecare provides quality, timely medical transportation services with empathy and care. We are the principal provider of fully equipped ground ambulance transportation in the St Catherine medical community and surrounding areas.

“Gentlecare’s emergency medical technicians are skilled and certified professionals with over 15 years of combined experience in the health-care industry, whether your transportation destination is a medical facility, doctor’s office, nursing home, treatment [medical] centre, airport, family function, sporting event, or transportation to and from a diagnostic facility,” explained the 63-year-old Lee, who got some of his training in British Colombia, Canada.

Lee quickly added: “All team members have been trained in international trauma life support, which is an international-based certification.”

Lee recalled one tragic moment he encountered while carrying out his services at the racetrack.

“Vassell ‘Jolly Man’ Najair comes to mind. The good part was that he was not pronounced dead at the racetrack. We had transported him to Definitive Care in Kingston, where he had spent a couple of days before he succumbed to injuries,” said Lee.z