FG Begins Emergency Ambulance Service

The Nigeria 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.

The Chairman of the National Emergency Medical Treatment Committee (NEMTC), Dr Felix Ogedegbe said this in Abuja during a Bi-Weekly Ministerial Media Conference anchored by the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire.

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 the response made to them immediately.

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

Ogedegbe said that several trials had 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.

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. The operational arm of the third disbursement gateway, designated in the National Health Act (NHA), with five percent of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund for Emergency Medical Treatment meant to provide urgent health service to Nigerians.

It addresses a serious weakness in Nigeria’s health system, which makes no provision for physical and financial access to First Aid and healthcare in case of life threatening emergencies of any type. The Federal Ministry of Health in February signed a multi sectorial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and inaugurated of the Implementation Manual for operationalising NEMSAS.