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Mahahual residents without emergency medical services despite millions of annual visitors

Mahahual, Q.R. — Residents of Mahahual say their town is no longer a small fishing village but one of great tourism and should be seen as such. Residents are dismayed that the seaside town, which attracts millions of tourists each year, is without an ambulance.

The only ambulance that was available has disappeared. For weeks, the townspeople have been left without any emergency medical service vehicle. Those who have required the service have been forced to pay 6,000 pesos for a Chetumal ambulance, which not only costs a lot but also takes upwards of eight hours for a transfer.

Guadalupe Godinez, a member of the Mahahual Health Committee, said the only ambulance the town had is no longer in service due to a lack of driver and fuel. She said the ambulance disappeared this summer.

“They didn’t have a driver or gasoline to operate it so we have been left vulnerable to situations. Recently, a child had an accident that required a transfer to the hospital in Chetumal but due to the lack of a vehicle, they had to request a private ambulance, which charged 6,000 pesos for coming from the capital,” she said.

She said matters were made worse because the family had to wait almost four hours for its arrival because it got “stuck” in the traffic due to Maya Train work. She said these cases have become too common.

“First they tell us that it is the responsibility of the municipality, others that it is the responsibility of the state or that the federal government should be the one to act since everything was brought together under the new health scheme.

“We are not interested in partisan issues, we only want a solution that does not put our lives at risk,” she explained.

Godinez says Mahahual needs to have a hospital worthy of a first-class tourist destination.

“We are no longer a fishing village but a point of arrival for millions of cruise ship passengers and tourists every year. During the high season we have more than 50,000 people in the community so a public hospital with its own ambulance and specialists to treat cases such as fractures, falls, etc. is necessary,” she explained.

She also said that Mahahual grants between 14 and 20 million pesos each year to the municipality of Othón P. Blanco in tourist taxes, pointing out that it would be fair if a portion of that money was used to meet their needs.