FG Begins Emergency Ambulance Services Friday

Category:  Nigeria News

The Federal Government will begin the pilot phase of the emergency ambulance services on Friday in Abuja to facilitate access to first aid and healthcare in life-threatening situations.

Dr Felix Ogedegbe, the Chairman of the National Emergency Medical Treatment Committee (NEMTC), said this on Wednesday in Abuja during a bi-weekly ministerial media conference.

According to him, the National Emergency Medical Service and Ambulance System (NEMSAS) committee was inaugurated four years ago and mandated to work on the rollout of an ambulance service for Nigeria.

He said that the aim was to ensure that Nigeria got to the point of joining other countries in the world that have national emergency medical services.

Ogedegbe said that with this system, Nigerians that need emergency medical care could call a three-digit number and have a response sent to them immediately.

The chairman said that the nation was known for negative health indices leading to high mortality rates, which most of the time were a result of the inability to access medical care on time.

“It is therefore known that the way Western countries or other countries have reduced these mortality figures and improved outcomes has been to make sure that there is a virile and active emergency medical service.

”The services will come to the aid of citizens whenever they need urgent emergency care.”

“That has been a goal that has been bought by the Minister of Health who has personally learnt to make sure that NEMSAS takes off in the country and becomes one of those established health entities that naturally provides care in Nigeria.”

Ogedegbe said that several trials have been carried out in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as the pilot state and that a call to 112 goes straight to the emergency communication centre, which then goes to the medical dispatch system to get the ambulance to respond to the emergency.

“Certain private and public hospitals working together in unison were picked as emergency treatment centres and certain private and public emergency ambulance service providers have also been picked.

“There are key issues here. People who are at risk of death or disability do not have to pay at the point of need.

“They have to have the ability to call on the ambulance and be attended to, and we hope and pray that all of the lessons that we will learn from the pilot phase will be used to then roll out this scheme in the rest of the country.”

However, he urged all states to emulate the readiness of the FCT and ensure all requisite structures and new medicines are proficient and empowered in an expedited rollout.