Following 2 years of discussion and approval by the Senate, the federal government is to commence its emergency national ambulance service on Friday as it officially starts the National Emergency Medical Service and Ambulance System (NEMSAS).
This was disclosed by Dr. Felix Ogedegbe, the chairman of, the National Emergency Medical Treatment Committee (NEMTC), on Wednesday in Abuja
The FG stated that the ambulance operations commencing on Friday is a pilot phase of its national ambulance service and will commence in Abuja.
What he said:
Dr. Felix Ogedegbe stated that the National Emergency Medical Service and Ambulance System committee was inaugurated four years ago and mandated to work on the rollout of an ambulance service for Nigeria.
He added that the move means Nigeria becomes one of the countries in the world with a health emergency service.
“It is therefore known that the way the 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.
“The minister of health wants to personally make sure that NEMSAS takes off in the country and becomes one of those established health entities that naturally provides care in Nigeria.”
He added that trials will begin in Abuja, citing 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.
“This is going to happen in the FCT; 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.”
What you should know
NEMSAS was 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 services to Nigerians.
Nairametrics reported last year that the federal government said it is setting up a plan to launch a responsive national emergency medical service and ambulance system in a bid to improve universal healthcare for Nigerians.
Health Minister Dr. Osagie Ehanire, said “As part of efforts towards UHC, we are also working toward establishing functional and responsive National Emergency Medical Service and Ambulance System across the country to ensure that emergencies are properly taken care of.
“This service will be at no cost to the end-users. Additionally, we are working toward revamping tertiary healthcare services across the country, including an active partnership with the private sector for the attainment of quality healthcare,” he added.
