Mario's staff help asthmatic coworker during quake

Shantel Douglas now knows how much her coworkers really care about her, thanks to their selfless act of kindness during Tuesday's 6.9 magnitude earthquake.

Douglas – an employee of Mario's Pizza (Mario's) in West Mall, Westmoorings – suffered a panic attack during the earthquake, which triggered her asthma.

Everyone else had evacuated the mall, but three Mario's employees stayed back with Douglas – supervisor Jahmila Henry, Crystal Andrews and Latifa Gaskin – while they awaited help.

Speaking with Newsday yesterday, Mario's brand manager Amrita Bajnath-Seepersad said, "These ladies are true gems who deserve to be highlighted for their camaraderie and bravery.

"They tried calling an ambulance but had no luck, so after a while, they decided to drive her to the hospital."

Douglas was taken to the nearby St James Medical Centre, where she was treated before being sent home. Feeling better yesterday, Douglas reported for her evening shift at Mario's.

Bajnath-Seepersad told Newsday after ensuring Douglas would be OK, the three women "returned to the outlet to make sure everything there was OK."

Mario's itself came in for praise from many people for choosing to close all 21 of its branches on Tuesday evening after the earthquake struck.

In a post to its Facebook page that evening, Mario's wrote, "Dear valued fans and customers, please note that All Mario's Branches are currently closed for the rest of the day in light of this evening's earthquake. We take this decision as it is important that all staff members are able to return home safely to be with their families and loved ones after such an experience. We do hope you understand! All restaurants will be open for business tomorrow (Wednesday) as per usual! Be safe, until then!"

Providing an update yesterday, Mario's CEO Roger Harford told Newsday, "Our employees definitely appreciated being able to go home early so they could check on their loved ones and homes. Around 6.30 pm on Tuesday we decided it was best to close. Some of our outlets were closed within an hou,r but all were closed by 8.30 pm.

He said the company had had "very, very positive feedback" on Facebook, adding, "This is not the first time we've done that – whenever there's a hurricane warning, we close early and send staff home – most recently during last year's hurricane warnings."

Mario's outlet at uhe University of the West Indies' St Augustine campus was the only one to remain closed yesterday, as the university was continuing safety checks.

The other 20 opened as normal. Harford said as of yesterday afternoon, the company had inspected 50 per cent of the structural integrity of its properties.

"Everything is fine but we are doing a proper check," Harford told Newsday.