UWISERT is a non-profit, volunteer, student-run and student-managed professional Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Public Health organization providing basic medical care to the UWI Mona Campus and community. The Emergency Medical Services Committee has traditionally been the most visible and popular aspect of our services. With the assistance of various members of the medical community UWISERT
trains and certifies emergency medical responders. UWISERT responders are available from 6pm to 6am on weekdays and then for the entire weekend during the school year. UWISERT responders also attend most sporting events on the UWI campus to treat injuries that arise during these events. In addition to their training these responders function under the guidance of the medical director and are trained and equipped to rapidly and safely transport patients to the UHWI emergency room when needed. Over the last 9 years UWISERT has trained well over 500 people in basic first aid and CPR, many of whom have been able to take these essential skills back to their communities. UWISERT has treated thousands of patients at various Sporting Events and the Mona Campus Halls of Residence since its inception; however UWISERT is more than Emergency Medical Services. The Public Health Committee is also a very active and integral part of UWISERT. Major activities include; the University’s Annual December World HIV/AIDS week which culminates with our hosting of Red Ribbon Café, the Annual Health in April and UWI’s biannual blood collection drive held in conjunction with the UWI health center. The Public Health Committee has also been active in organizing a series of food and clothing drives for the underprivileged. In April 2012, we launched our most significant public health education initiative to date: our First Annual ‘EMS Week and CPR Day’ with our ‘Hands-Only CPR’ campaign. Championed by the American Heart Association (AHA) and British Heart Foundation (BHF); Hands-Only CPR is recommended for use by the general public and has been proven just as effective as traditional CPR.UWISERT is perhaps one of the first organizations in Jamaica and indeed CARICOM to not only recognize the lifesaving value of ‘Hands-Only CPR’, given the prevalence of cardiovascular disease in our region, but also one of the first organizations to launch such a campaign. UWISERT was founded on Rex Nettleford Hall in 2004 by two medical students Arlington Lightbourne and Trevor Bygrave and Dr. P. Donna Mae Jackson and Dr. Winsome Segree. UWISERTs headquarters are on the Rex Nettleford Hall, the First Aid Unit FAU serves as our office; and our On-Call Department with full kitchen and bathroom facilities, and a two (2) patient bed capacity. Our Intermediate Life Support (ILS) stocked Ambulance is also based at Rex Nettleford Hall. UWISERT’s ultimate goal is to support the development of emergency medical services throughout the region and to increase the capacity of the wider community to assist in providing care. We are a CARICOM and UWI Organization. Our membership comprise: Jamaicans, Trinidadians, Bahamians, Bajans, Guyanese, Vincentians, St. Lucians, Antiguans, and from even as far away as the United Kingdom. We recruit high caliber students of any faculty and program; to be exemplars and leaders, socially aware and civic-driven citizens. The UWI Mona comprises of the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FMS) which is made up of the undergraduate Medical School, School of Physical Therapy, School of Nursing, School of Diagnostic Imaging, and Department of Basic Medical Sciences while also offering graduate programs in the forementioned. The University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) is joined to the main campus of The UWI Mona Campus and offers specialist training in Emergency Medicine, Sports Medicine, Orthopedic Surgery, Anesthesia and ICU in addition to other residency programs.
