The Ministry of Health and Culture is making progress with recommendations in a report concerning the quality of care review of emergency medicine services in May 2013 that responded to a fatal accident on Grand Cayman.

The report was done by Dr. Dan Cass at the request of the Ministry in response to a complaint filed with the Office of the Complaints Commission by the family of the late Zak Quappe. Dr. Cass is an expert in emergency medicine from Toronto, Canada, and was requested to do an independent review.

His review has now been made public to local media by the family of Mr. Quappe. The Ministry decided to seek a review from a medical expert outside of the Cayman Islands jurisdiction so that there could be no questions about having our own medical and emergency staffs reviewing themselves.

The Ministry profoundly thanks Dr. Cass for conducting his very thorough review in which he identified six areas to offer the Ministry opportunities to further improve on the quality of care by the Cayman Islands emergency response and EMS systems.

The Ministry is continuously looking for ways to improve the services we provide to the people of and in the Cayman Islands and appreciates these recommendations.

Many of the suggestions have already been implemented. For instance the Department of Public Safety Communications, which falls under the remit of the Ministry of Home Affairs, is coordinating with stakeholders on modifying dispatch protocols and procedures with the intent of reducing emergency response times. Work is also under way to synchronize event recorders throughout the system.

Other systems have been reviewed and have been or are being updated as recommended by Dr. Cass.

The Ministries welcome the opportunities to take recommendations on board as we continually strive to improve an already excellent medical product in the Cayman Islands.

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See also iNews Cayman related stories published today:

Editorial: “Quappe family response to Quality of Care Review to son’s death is exemplary”

Front Page: “Cayman Islands paramedic response deviated from established protocols in fatal accident”