By Daniel Kudayah
The Federal Government has deployed 13 emergency ambulances to Ogun State as part of efforts to strengthen pre-hospital and emergency medical care across the country.
The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Adekunle Salako, flagged off the deployment in Ogun with the distribution of three Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) ambulances, one Basic Life Support (BLS) ambulance and nine tricycle ambulances to selected health facilities in the state.
The deployment is being implemented under the National Emergency Medical Services and Ambulance System (NEMSAS) as part of the Federal Government’s nationwide rollout of emergency medical assets.
Salako said the initiative is designed to establish a coordinated emergency medical system covering emergency dispatch, trained personnel, pre-hospital care, transportation and referral to appropriate health facilities.
The first phase of the national deployment includes 145 tricycle ambulances, six boats, 15 BLS ambulances and 79 ATLS ambulances, with Ogun among the beneficiary states.
The ambulances are expected to strengthen emergency response at high-volume health facilities, including the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta, and Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, as well as facilities serving communities that face geographical barriers to accessing emergency care.
Salako also said free emergency obstetric services provided through NEMSAS and the Maternal Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative had enabled more than 48,000 pregnant women to receive emergency obstetric care, including more than 4,000 caesarean sections.
According to him, the interventions have contributed to a 17 per cent reduction in maternal mortality and a 12 per cent reduction in neonatal mortality across 172 high-burden Local Government Areas.
The minister stressed that adequate training of personnel and sustainable funding would be critical to ensuring that the ambulance services operate effectively and deliver the intended impact.
He said the Federal Government would continue to work with state governments, hospitals and first responders to expand and strengthen coordinated emergency medical services across the country.
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