During the month of May, 2020 the UNDP Trinidad and Tobago Office procured 11 video laryngoscopes for the Ministry of Health. This was done as a part of the Primary Healthcare Initiative Project – Phase II, the main focus of which is to improve the delivery of healthcare services at the Regional Health Authorities (RHAs).  These instruments will assist medical personnel in the various emergency departments and intensive care units throughout Trinidad with the intubation of critically ill or injured patients. Intubation is the insertion of a flexible tube into the windpipe of a patient to maintain an open airway and facilitate the ventilation of the lungs.

Laryngoscopes enable medical practitioners to view the larynx directly. Video laryngoscopes, like the ones procured for the RHAs, allow the medical practitioner to view a wider area of the airway from a distance thus making intubation easier. This is the recommended tool for intubating patients who are suspected or confirmed to have Covid-19 and is thus an essential tool in the nation’s parallel medical system that was established to treat with COVID-19.

The UNDP Trinidad and Tobago Office continues to partner with the Ministry of Health to improve the level of health care in the Trinidad and Tobago and combat the COVID-19 pandemic.