Byron McDaniel, Gleaner Writer

WALDERSTON, Manchester:

The Mandeville Reg-ional Hospital has received its first defibrillator.

This is a vital machine used to administer electric shocks to unconscious heart patients.

The equipment was presented by the Lions Club of Mandeville last week.

"It is a wonder that we managed to do without this bit of equipment for so long," said the hospital's chief executive officer Paulette Elliot, while accepting the gift, presented by the immediate past president of the Lions Club of Mandeville, Pamela Freeman.

Dr. Hopeton Falconer, a member of the Lions Club, said the equipment was acquired with the proceeds from a fund-raising activity.

And Dr. Peter Wellington, senior medical officer at the Mandeville Regional Hospital, said the defibrillator was a welcomed gift. "Government cannot provide all health needs and we cannot deliver all things to all people," he said.

Dr. Wellington said given the shortages in health care, significant decisions may have to be made. "Do we spend our money on doing heart transplant on 60-year-old men or do we spend this on immunisation for young children? Do we spend our money on renal dialysis, as necessary as it is, or do we spend it to buy antibiotics and HIV drugs for children?"

He said these were real issues policymakers faced.