Caribbean News
JAMAICA: Brave Nurses to Receive Badge of Honour for Gallantry October 15th
#Kingston, October 13, 2018 – Jamaica – Four years after displaying bravery in saving the lives of 22 infants during a fire in the Neonatal Care Unit of the Victoria Jubilee Hospital in downtown Kingston, nurses Mrs. Sophia Cameron, Ms. Camille McIntosh and Ms. Verlyn Faithie-Ann 
Douse will be honoured on Heroes Day, October 15.
In an interview with JIS News at the hospital on Friday (October 12), before they receive the Badge of Honour for Gallantry from Governor General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen, at King’s House, two of the nurses said it was an experience they would never want to relive.
“I’ve never seen so much black smoke. It was a frightening experience. The babies were on oxygen in the room with fire, so it was really an experience. We started putting the babies in a cot to get them out as quickly as possible, and we just created [something like] a conveyor belt and persons were just pushing them out,” Ms. McIntosh recalls.
“We ensured that all the staff were out… . I was thinking ‘I need to get the babies out. Then I need to get the staff out. Then I need to evacuate the hospital’. That was what was in my mind. By the time the fire brigade reached us, the fire was out, but there was still a lot of smoke. It was an experience. We had persons having asthma attack and going to the accident and emergency department,” she tells JIS News.
Mrs. Cameron said she never thought she would be awarded by the Governor-General, given that four years have passed, but she is extremely grateful.
“When it happened, the last thing I was thinking of was an award, because I just did what I had to do. I just saw those babies in my care; there was 
a fire, so instinct and motherly instinct… all of that inside of me, allowed me to do what I did, and I just want to give God thanks, who is behind all of this,” Mrs. Cameron says.
Ms. McIntosh said she was not thinking about receiving an award either, and she is also grateful.
“I’m so honoured that I am getting the award, but the award really belongs to a collective crew – the maintenance team, the patient care assistants who helped us, the orderlies from the operating theatre, the other nurses who came and helped…there were so many persons who helped to save those babies’ lives,” she says.
Ms. Douse, the other nurse who played an active role in the evacuation process, is off the island and has communicated that she, too, is grateful for the award. She will return and join her colleagues on Monday as they collect their awards.
By: Ainsworth Morris
Release: JIS
Photo Caption: Nurses Camille McIntosh and Sophia Cameron, who will be awarded with the Badge of Honour for Gallantry on Heroes Day (October 15) during the National Honours and Awards Ceremony on the lawns of King’s House. Also to receive the award is Nurse Verlyn Faithie-Ann Douse.
Photo: Ainsworth Morris
KINGSTON, April 29 (JIS):
Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda, says the outcome of discussions arising from the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) will assist in guiding the Government’s planning for climate change.
This, he points out, is important for climate mitigation as well as building Jamaica’s resilience.
“We look forward to the discussions that will, no doubt, take place. We look forward to the basis of planning for the Government to streamline its investments to ensure you have the tools that you need to better advise us, that the WRA (Water Resources Authority) has the tools to digitise its monitoring network, and that all of the agencies that touch our planning mechanisms have the tools. But we need to know what we are facing, and we’re guided by your expertise,” Minister Samuda said.
He was addressing the opening ceremony for the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in New Kingston on Monday (April 29).
Senator Samuda said given the fact that the climate has changed and continues to do so, investments in and collaborations on building Jamaica’s predictive and scientific capacity must be prioritised.
“Ultimately, we need to be able to assess our current climatic realities if we are to better plan, if we’re to insist and ensure that our infrastructure meets the needs that we need it to. I’m very happy that this event is happening… because this is a critical issue.
“Jamaica, last year, faced its worst and most severe drought… and this year, we’re already seeing the impacts of not quite as severe a drought but, certainly, a drought with severe impacts, especially in the western part of the country,” he said.
Principal Director, Meteorological Service of Jamaica, Evan Thompson, explained that the forum aims to, among other things, establish a collaboration platform for climate services providers and users to understand risks and opportunities of past, present and future climate developments, as well as improve inter-agency coordination of policies, plans and programmes.
Among the other presenters were Ambassador, European Union to Jamaica, Her Excellency Marianne Van Steen; Chief Scientist/Climatologist, Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology, Adrian Trotman; and Head, Regional Climate Prediction Services, World Meteorological Organization, Wilfran Moufouma-Okia.
The Meteorological Service of Jamaica hosted the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) in partnership with the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology and the World Meteorological Organization.
The National Stakeholder Consultation is a governance mechanism that guides how different sectors or actors work together to create products that contribute to adaptation and resilience-building. It seeks to create a road map for the development and implementation of climate services to inform decision-making.
NCF-1 aims to bridge the gap between climate providers and users. It increases the use of science-based information in decision-making and operations with the aim of generating and delivering co-produced and co-designed products and services.
CONTACT: CHRIS PATTERSON
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