The Tribune

By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

AVIATION representatives have challenged North Andros Administrator Beverley Laramore’s claim that additional ambulances or fire trucks would not have changed the response to the Independence Day plane crash that killed ten people, arguing that airports require specialised ambulances equipped for major aviation disasters.

Bahamas Aviation, Climate & Severe Weather Network founder Robert Dupuch-Carron and chief operating officer Michael Strachan said ordinary Public Hospitals Authority and Department of Public Health ambulances are not designed to provide the level of trauma response required after an aircraft crash.

Their intervention followed Ms Laramore’s defence of the emergency response in North Andros, where the crash site lay about half a mile inside a pine forest and could not be reached by vehicles.

Ms Laramore claimed emergency personnel reached the crash’s lone initial survivor, Macaro Rolle, within about 15 minutes after locating the wreckage and trekking through the forest. Those close to Rolle said it took about two hours for Rolle to be removed.

Mr Rolle suffered severe burns and was carried out of the forest before being taken by ambulance to the airport, where medical personnel tried to stabilise him for a flight to New Providence. He later died from his injuries.

“Even if we had a million ambulances and fire trucks, they would not have been able to access the fire crash,” Ms Laramore said.

However, speaking on Beyond the Headlines with Shenique Miller, Mr Carron said airports should not depend on conventional community ambulances when confronting aviation emergencies.

He said the specialised ambulances BACSWN has begun deploying to Family Island airports are designed for aviation incidents and are accompanied by emergency medical technicians, paramedics and, in some cases, doctors or trauma surgeons.

Mr Carron said other countries maintain a higher class of ambulance for aviation emergencies than the vehicles generally used for community medical calls.

“The PHA is not designed for that, trust me. I ran it. I helped run it for many years. You can ask Andrew Edwards, the chairman,” he said.

“It could not possibly be providing those services, and it’s not designed for that, but they did a wonderful job, but what we need to do is to provide a requisite level of service for the aviation sector.”

Mr Carron previously served as the PHA’s vice-chairman.

Mr Strachan said too many people had retreated into “defence mode” after the catastrophe rather than treating it as an opportunity to identify weaknesses and deploy available resources.

“What we’re trying to do is prevent as much as we can the loss of life in the event that an accident happens where circumstances provide,” he said.

“I think right now all of the stakeholders, including BACSWN and all the relevant parties, have to come together and ensure that we can do whatever we need to do to prevent another tragedy like this from happening again.”

Mr Strachan described the Independence Day crash as “very eerily reminiscent” of the October 2010 Lake Killarney plane crash, which killed nine people.

He said aviation disasters serve as a sombre warning that safety must be treated seriously and argued that major accidents generally emerge from a chain of smaller failures rather than one isolated breakdown and expressed his support of the Civil Aviation Authority Bahamas and need to increase funding and resources to the agency to assist them better.

“As someone that’s been around the industry for a very long time, I can tell you that it’s not one major failure that is the result of what happened on Friday,” he said.

“It’s a lot of small little things that added up in the chain that created the dynamic that we now have to face that reality. Ten lives have been lost, and its going to reshape how the domestic air aviation industry is done going forward.”

Mr Strachan said BACSWN’s first deployment phase covers five airports but does not include North Andros.

He said the organisation hopes to eventually place specialised ambulances there as additional vehicles leave the production line and are shipped to The Bahamas.

Mr Strachan said the country’s archipelagic geography creates a formidable challenge, with airports spread across 26 islands.

“There’s 26 islands and airports that are spread out. Imagine having to manage, maintain infrastructure, and provide the level of service that LPIA has for all of these airports,” he said.

He said BACSWN aims to assist with that effort but acknowledged that it cannot equip every airport at once.

Ms Laramore said a nine-week wildfire two years ago had placed significant strain on North Andros’ ageing fire truck.

She also said the district could rely on Central Andros for assistance if another ambulance were needed.

Mr Carron praised the government’s efforts to strengthen the aviation sector but said the private sector can move more quickly.

He said BACSWN had been waiting for memoranda of understanding that would allow aviation-trained doctors and other medical personnel to work alongside the Department of Public Health at selected locations.

“So the ambulances are here, they are spec’d, the paramedics are here, and they are ready to go,” he said.

Mr Carron said Attorney General Wayne Munroe had indicated that agreements would be signed and deployment would proceed rapidly, but warned that equipping airports across the country could not happen immediately.

“You cannot expect 26 airports across 173000 square miles to be done in one day, and the sad part is that we are behind the curve and having to move very forward,” he said.

Mr Carron also raised concerns about the enforcement of aviation rules, particularly the use of private aircraft for commercial operations.

“I have a problem with the fact that at general aviation, lets just face facts, if they have a private aircraft, you shouldn’t be doing commercial operations and that would be the equivalent of hacking,” he said.

He dismissed calls for the aviation minister to resign as “preposterous”, arguing that the responsible agencies must deliver the required services.

Mr Carron said BACSWN would track flights, provide accurate weather information and deliver services aligned with international standards.

“I can’t guarantee outcomes, but I can tell you this: that we’re going to have proper trauma guys, we’re going to have paramedics, we’re going to have the medicines necessary to treat the guys,” he said.

Mr Strachan said BACSWN had begun increasing staffing at aviation facilities in Mayaguana while constructing facilities at other airports to house the ambulances.

He said many airports lack the buildings needed to store and support the equipment BACSWN plans to deploy.

“Part of the delay was we had to engage in construction to house the ambulances while they’re there at our facilities, and as we tour the rest of The Bahamas, we’re actively looking at all the airports that’s under construction, and having our teams go down and actually plan out where all this equipment is going to go in conjunction with the airport authority,” he said.

Mr Strachan said BACSWN has a substantial rollout plan once the administrative requirements are completed.

“Over the coming weeks, we will be ramping up the rollout, staffing, and also making sure that the airports in the first tranche of the rollout plan is completed before the fourth quarter this year,” he said.

Mr Carron sought to reassure Bahamians that the aviation system was not entirely broken and said BACSWN had developed a strong working relationship with government aviation bodies, including the Airport Authority.

“I want the people to feel confident that when tou get on a plane, that the guys have done everything right, and if something were to go wrong, we’re going to be there,” he said.