From Scarcity to Security: The Caribbean’s Life-Saving Leap
The Why: A Scarcity That Cost Lives
It wasn’t just another delivery delay.
It was a night in 2021 when the emergency room of a hospital in the southern Caribbean ran out of saline. A simple, clear solution — sodium chloride in sterile water — the most basic building block of medical care, had vanished from shelves due to shipping delays and global shortages. Doctors were left improvising. Nurses scrambled between wards. A mother watched helplessly as her child, dehydrated from gastroenteritis, was placed on oral fluids because IV bags had to be rationed.
This wasn’t wartime. It wasn’t a natural disaster. It was a normal week in the Caribbean.
One of us was there — not physically, but in the stories retold between colleagues and friends. And we had heard too many of them.
The Caribbean, rich in beauty and culture, remains alarmingly dependent on imported medical essentials. Every bag of IV saline, every sterile medical device, every critical fluid used in an ICU or maternity ward — all arrive in shipping containers from Miami, Hamburg, or Mumbai. This dependency, invisible to most, turns deadly when ports close, prices spike, or a global crisis breaks the chain.
It was unacceptable.
And we decided: we’re going to fix this.
The Heart of the Matter:
What This Really Means
This project is about so much more than IV fluids.
It’s about grandmother, Lucille in Saint Lucia who can now get dialysis on time.
It’s about NICU nurse, Sharon in Barbados who no longer has to guess when her supplies will arrive.
It’s about 8 year old Thomas in Dominica who survives dengue fever because his hospital had what it needed.
It’s about dignity. About no longer accepting the narrative that we must wait, or rely, or hope others come to save us.
It’s about the sovereignty of care.
This is not a charity play. It’s a business, yes — but one that was born from pain, purpose, and pride. And one that will live by values that center humanity.