The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Chief Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A NURSE has been filmed sitting in the back of a jeep with her legs stretched over a patient in Mangrove Cay, an island that nurses say has been without a working ambulance for more than a decade.

The 24-second clip has spread widely on social media and drawn a sharp rebuke from Bahamas Nurses Union president Muriel Lightbourn, who condemned what she called the “deplorable” state of healthcare in the Family Islands.

“There’s no ambulance in Mangrove Cay so the nurse has to transport the patient and sit in the person’s jeep. We need some help,” the person recording the video can be heard saying.

Mrs Lightbourn said she contacted nurses in Mangrove Cay after seeing the video. They told her the island had not had a working ambulance in more than ten years, and that the patient was being taken to be airlifted to New Providence for treatment. The patient’s condition is not known.

Mrs Lightbourn questioned whether the nurse would be covered if anything happened to her while riding in a private vehicle that way.

“It’s just sad as it pertains to the care and the quality of service that people just accept in the Family Islands. It’s so wrong,” she said.

Health and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville said his ministry was aware of the video. He said an ambulance had been earmarked for Mangrove Cay and several other islands in need.

“I’ve made it very clear that the roll out for the EMT system in the Family Islands would be a phased approach so I do concede to the fact that some islands are still waiting on an ambulance,” he said.

He said Cabinet had agreed to buy another 10 to 12 ambulances. Once those arrive in New Providence and Grand Bahama, some ambulances currently earmarked for those islands will be released to the Family Islands.

However, Dr Darville rejected suggestions that the government was failing Andros, of which Mangrove Cay is part.

“But, to say that we are delinquent in our mandate, I can tell you this much,” he said, “I just came from Andros and we have one of our new ambulances in the Miriam Green clinic. We have an ambulance at Central Andros and we have an ambulance at North Andros so all are functioning and providing services for the residents.”

Transport Minister Leon Lundy, MP for Mangrove Cay and South Andros, acknowledged residents’ frustration yesterday. He said he expects a new ambulance to arrive on the island once construction of the clinic is finished.

“I’ll continue pushing for the healthcare emergency services our residents need because the people of Mangrove Cay deserve dependable access to essential healthcare and emergency services,” Mr Lundy said.

The video is the latest in a string of cases in which Family Island patients have been taken to air ambulances in the backs of trucks and other vehicles, including in Exuma, Long Island and, more recently, Bimini.

In September 2025, a Long Island woman fighting for her life was carried to an air ambulance on the back of a flatbed truck in pouring rain, even though ambulances on the island were parked and unused.

Dr Darville has previously promised an end to such scenes. After a fatal crash on Long Island, he said the days were gone when people injured in traumatic events were placed on the back of a truck to get to the airport.