An electrical fire at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex last night forced authorities to transfer vulnerable patients to other parts of the hospital, as power was cut for some 90 minutes before being restored.

The fire started around 11:30pm.

The North-Central Regional Health Authority says a final report from the investigation into the incident will be handed over later today.

See the full statement on the matter issued by CEO of the NCRHA, Davlin Thomas:

Approximately 11:30pm (Sept 10, 2020), a fire was reported at a breaker in a low voltage distribution panel at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex.

The NCRHA’s Incident Response Team (IRT) which comprised managers of critical services departments including ICU, clinical services, engineering, OSH and administration, immediately implemented the response plan developed for power outages.

The plan includes the mobilization of ambulances, anesthetists, hospital managers, engineering, biomedical staff, etc, who immediately engaged a situational analysis, and subsequently transferred vulnerable patients from affected areas.

The IRT was able to restore power approximately 90 minutes after the incident. Additionally, standby generators have been dispatched to provide an additional tier of contingency directly to critical areas.

The Authority has already launched an investigation into the incident and a final report is expected later today (September 11).

Contractors are currently on site assessing the damage and repairs will begin immediately on the affected panel. Critical areas such as ICU, High Dependency Unit, Adult
Emergency and Paeds ICU have their own back-up power
systems, so during the incident power was still
available to provide necessary patient care.

Currently, power has been restored to all buildings and
our engineering department is performing an audit to
confirm power distribution and to assess whether further
damage has occurred.

NCRHA’s Incident Response Team on site at the EWMSC engaging the Power Outage Plan following last night’s fire.

North Central Regional Health Authority Building 39. Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex Uriah Butler Highway, Champ Fleurs Tel: (868) 225-4673 Ext. 2569 | (868) 662-6684

This incident has resulted in several clinics starting later than scheduled today, but all our equipment and health services are currently operating normally.

The NCRHA will like to thank the Incident Response Team, our staff and the public for standing by us as we continue to deliver quality healthcare while repairing the equipment damaged from this incident.