A sharp rise in respiratory emergencies, motor vehicle accidents and commercial fire incidents is placing increasing pressure on Saint Lucia’s emergency response system, prompting fire officials to call for greater public awareness and preventative action.
Speaking during last week’s Joint Protective Services press conference, Chief Fire Officer Ditney Downes revealed that respiratory emergencies continue to account for a significant proportion of ambulance responses, with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remaining one of the most pressing concerns.
The Saint Lucia Fire Service conducted 13,637 patient assessments in 2025, responding to 843 respiratory-related calls. Of those, 800, or approximately 95 per cent, involved patients suffering from COPD, with every patient being male.
“95% of these calls were COPD cases. And I want to plead to our young men, because the statistics showed that 100% are males,” Downes said. “So apparently the females are doing something that our males are not doing.”
He warned that COPD should not be dismissed as an illness affecting only older smokers, urging men to take their respiratory health seriously.
“So I want to plead to our young men that COPD is not a joke. It’s a very serious disease,” he stressed.
The trend has continued into 2026. Up to the time of the press conference, the Fire Service had already responded to 6,762 ambulance calls, including 572 COPD-related emergencies.
“In 2026 so far, we responded to 6,762 ambulance calls. Again, COPD cases, 572,” Downes noted. “So, based on that, it is expected that we will surpass the responses for 2025.”
Road traffic accidents also remain a major contributor to the Fire Service’s workload, with the Chief Fire Officer appealing to motorists to exercise greater caution on the nation’s roads.
“Vehicle accidents, again, I want to plead to our drivers to follow the rules, the traffic rules of Saint Lucia,” he said.
In addition to medical emergencies, the Fire Service is also facing growing concern over the number of fires affecting homes and businesses across the island.
“The fire department is very concerned about the number of fire calls, both domestic and commercial fires,” Downes stated. “So we’ve discussed it and we’ve taken a proactive approach to try to deal with these calls, especially the commercial calls.”
As part of that effort, Fire Prevention and Investigations Officer Owen Cazaubon announced a major inspection campaign targeting commercial establishments in Castries during July.
“So this year, July, we have an initiative that will have some rigorous inspections in the city of Castries,” Cazaubon said.
He explained that the exercise is intended to reduce fire risks in the capital while preventing a repeat of one of the country’s worst disasters.
“We know that we had this major fire in 1948. It happened in June and we do not want another city death by fire,” he said.
According to Cazaubon, fire officers will conduct inspections of businesses considered most vulnerable.
“So we have planned sometime in July, we will have a week of inspections. We will be visiting all the vulnerable business or commercial businesses,” he said.
Fire officials say the combined focus on respiratory health, road safety and fire prevention reflects a broader effort to reduce avoidable emergencies and ease the growing demands being placed on Saint Lucia’s emergency services.