BRILLIANT, courageous and thorough are some of the adjectives that describe Dr Nicole Dawkins-Wright, one of Jamaica’s health-care heroes who are being recognised during July, which has been declared Healthcare Workers Appreciation Month.

“This is something I wanted to do before I even knew how hard it was, but it keeps me going,” said Dawkins-Wright, director for the Emergency, Disaster Management and Special Services (EDMSS) Branch in the Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW).

“I don’t do it for money or for fame. I really love the systematic approach to emergency disaster management,” she said, even as she conceded that the job can be daunting.

Dr Dawkins-Wright was appointed to head the EDMSS branch in 2018. The branch systematically analyses and manages health risks posed by emergencies and disasters; develops, implements and monitors medical and health emergency and disaster management programmes; establishes and operationalises the MOHW National Emergency Operations Centre; and develops, monitors and supports the implementation of public information and education programmes for the health aspects of emergency and disaster management.

That mandate means that when the novel coronavirus pandemic hit Jamaica, Dr Dawkins-Wright was one of the first to respond, helping to craft a national response.

She recalled being pulled back from vacation when the first case was identified in March 2020 and the MOHW senior management team decided to treat with the pandemic from an international health regulations perspective, while building on lessons learned from the influenza pandemic.

Dr Dawkins-Wright coordinated activities, including meetings with technical working groups, to pull all response plans together and to bring all relevant stakeholders to the table. She was also responsible for overseeing the urgent task of setting up the National Quarantine Facility, which had to be done overnight.

“That night I ‘walked down’ my shoes, got a flat tyre, and so many things went wrong. Everybody was tired but we had to facilitate the nurses to come in and start working,” she told JIS News.

“Led by our permanent secretary [Dunstan Bryan], who was there with us that night, we got it done,” Dr Dawkins-Wright recalled.

As the director for the EDMSS Branch, she is also the national health disaster coordinator as well as director for the essential Ministry of Health’s National Emergency Operations Centre (MOH NEOC), the central coordinating hub for any health response, crisis, or disaster.

“The EOC takes the information on the current situation, assesses what resources are needed, who to pull together, and sends out the message,” she explained.

Outside of the pandemic, the EDMSS branch attends to seasonal occurrences such as mosquito-borne and respiratory illnesses, as well as mass casualty incidents from road traffic crashes and large international events.

Each week a team from the unit provides health coverage for Cabinet meetings and Parliament.

“As a requirement we coordinate the health and medical services of the head of State and the head of Government, so that’s both the governor general and the prime minister. We coordinate with the protocol section of the Office of the Prime Minister and ensure that there is emergency medical coverage during a State or official visit — from the point of arrival until ‘wheels up’ when the plane goes and our VIP has departed,” Dr Dawkins-Wright explained.

She is grateful for the opportunity to be making an impact on the country’s health sector, which is the fulfilment of a childhood dream.

She described herself as a sickly child growing up in rural Jamaica and recalled choking on a fish bone which resulted in severe tonsillitis, leaving her unable to swallow. Her first encounter with the health sector was at St Ann’s Bay Regional Hospital, which was unable to accommodate her — something she reflects on today.

“Everything in the book said you should admit this child to hospital, but inasmuch as we talk about overcrowding in hospital now, it is not a new problem. It happened from back then,” she said.

Her mother took her to Bustamante Hospital for Children for treatment where, again, there was no space to admit her.

“Mommy had to take me to the hospital every day for 10 days to get an injection. By day five I couldn’t walk so she had to carry me. I thought about the situation and even at that age, I knew that there had to be a better way to provide health service,” she recalled vividly.

The dream and determination to enter the medical field began there. It grew even more each time she saw her mother and grandmother watching their favourite television show Trapper John MD, a popular medical drama.

Further medical trauma propelled the dream further. A large scar on her hand is a permanent reminder of a mass-casualty motor vehicle crash in which she was involved as a teenager. She again ended up in St Ann’s Bay Regional Hospital where the experience was less than pleasant.

“I promised myself that day I was going to work at St Ann’s Bay Hospital when I was finished and that no one should come in and get sutured the way I did,” she said as she glanced at her hand.

After completing her studies at The University of the West Indies, the young doctor lived out her childhood dream of returning to St Ann’s Bay Regional Hospital to serve, eventually rising to the position of senior medical officer.

A hard-fought battle with an aggressive form of breast cancer kept her off the job for two years, between 2014 and 2016. This led Dr Dawkins-Wright to shift focus, taking up duties at the MOHW head office as the director of disaster risk management in April 2017. One year later she was promoted to her current position.