'We were never called': Ambulance Service denies viral video on 'baby's taxi transfer'

The National Ambulance Service (NAS) has issued a rebuttal against claims in a viral video which alleged its refusal to transfer a newborn baby from Kukuom District Hospital to Goaso Government Hospital due to a lack of oxygen.

In an official statement released on Friday, February 6, the Service's management detailed the findings of an immediate investigation conducted in collaboration with the Ahafo Regional Coordinating Council. 

The probe established that "no request for an ambulance was made to the National Ambulance Service by Kukuom District Hospital for the referenced neonatal transfer." The statement categorically declared, "NAS did not refuse any request for service, as none was received."

Addressing operational capacity, the Service clarified that while the dedicated Asunafo South ambulance is undergoing repairs, "there is a fully-functional ambulance located at Mim, which is twenty (20) minutes away from Kukuom, well within our response time." 

It further provided records demonstrating an "uninterrupted operational capability," having "successfully conveyed over five (5) patients on oxygen support from Kukuom District Hospital to higher-level facilities" in the preceding weeks.

The NAS expressed "grave concern over the unauthorized and unsafe transfer of a neonate in a taxi, which exposed the child to significant and avoidable clinical risk," labelling it "a serious breach of emergency referral protocols." 

It lamented that the "circulation of inaccurate information has unfairly damaged the reputation and professional integrity" of the Service.

Reaffirming its commitment, the NAS assured the public of its readiness to conduct oxygen-supported transfers and urged health facilities and citizens to "always follow established emergency referral and dispatch protocols by contacting the NAS emergency line 112 for ambulance services."

Read the full statement below