Government orders ambulances for all 275 constituencies

The government has placed an order for 275 Mercedes Benz ambulances for the National Ambulance Service (NAS) to enable it to deliver effective and efficient emergency services across the country.

The vehicles, which are expected to arrive in the country by the end of August this year, will be distributed among the 275 constituencies.

A Deputy Minister of Health, Ms Tina Mensah, who announced this in Accra yesterday, said, “The procurement of the 275 new Mercedes Benz ambulances for the country is at an advanced stage.

“The government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is poised to position the National Ambulance Service on a very high level so that it can deliver on its mandate of saving lives timely,” she stated.

Training

Ms Mensah was speaking at the closing ceremony of a two-week training workshop for advanced emergency medical technicians and staff of the NAS at its headquarters in Accra.

The workshop that was aimed at boosting the efficiency in the operations of the service took participants through lessons on advance medical life support, pre-hospital trauma life support, ambulance operations and quality emergency medical services.

The 200 participants are to use the knowledge they have acquired to train their colleagues at the various ambulance stations in the country.

The training was facilitated by paramedic experts from the North Dakota Department of Health in the United States of America (USA).

Efficient service

Ms Mensah said the National Ambulance Service had been established with the task of providing pre-hospital care to the sick and the wounded, as well as conveying them to health facilities.

She noted that people’s lives often depended on the quick reaction and competent care of emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics.

“Incidents as varied as automobile accidents, heart attacks, slips and falls, childbirth and gunshot wounds, require immediate medical attention. EMTs and paramedics provide this vital service as they care for and transport the sick or injured to a medical facility,” she stated.

The deputy minister of health emphasised that the government was committed to ensuring the establishment of an effective emergency medical service system in the country, hence the procurement of the 275 ambulances.

Support

Ms Mensah said the government, through the Ministry of Health, was doing all it could to ensure that the ambulance service grew to become like other agencies under the ministry.

“We are ready to provide the National Ambulance Service with the necessary logistics and financial support so as to continue to provide appropriate pre-hospital care for everybody living in Ghana,” she assured.

She expressed satisfaction with the collaboration between the North Dakota Department of Health and the National Guard to help the NAS to build a robust emergency medical services and help save lives over the past 10 years.