“All agencies involved in the training have mandates that crosscut many different sectors,” Chief Fire Officer Zebalon McLean told the Department of Information and Public Relations. “As trained emergency medical technicians, they will be equipped to apply medical stabilisation skills to residents, visitors, dignitaries and each other.”

The FRSD, the BVI Health Services Authority, the BVI Airports Authority, Conservation and Fisheries and the BVI Ports Authority have committed officers to the training course, which started Monday, according to Government Information Services.

The course will include training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, as well as a refresher component for certified EMTs, who have to be re-certified every two years.

“As a Caribbean destination that is constantly designing infrastructure and programmes to encourage more tourism, we have to be able to cope with both current and future populations, whether they be caused by natural births, immigration or vacationers,” Mr. McLean said.

He added that his department started incorporating medical response into its duties in 1999 under the guidance of Deputy Chief Fire Officer William Penn.

“Medical response and the work we do are no longer two separate roles,” he said. “Fire departments have evolved, and it is now a requirement that firefighters be qualified EMTs. We must embrace the future of our profession as we continue to receive medical related calls.”

Such calls, he added, have become the most frequent type of call for the department.

As in the past, the training is being facilitated by Worldwide International Emergency Medical Services of Washington DC, which will provide trainers from the mainland United States, Anguilla and St. Maarten, according to GIS.