Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi on Wednesday boosted healthcare facilities in the State with the inauguration of additional four ambulances to existing fleet as part of effort to improve on healthcare delivery system in the State.
Speaking during the inauguration witnessed by the Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Dr Oyebanji Filani; Director General, Office of Transformation and Service Delivery and Overseer of the Ministry of Public Utility, Prof. Bolaji Aluko and Special Adviser, Development Partnerships/SDGs, Mrs Margaret Fagboyo, Dr Fayemi said the ambulances would be positioned in the three senatorial districts for ease of access to both General and Specialists Hospitals in the state. This, he said would increase access to the grassroots and enable them take possession of services they render in the various localities.
The Governor said procurement of the ambulances became necessary following the sharp increase in incidences of road traffic and domestic accidents globally, added that the vehicles were meant to forestall loss of lives of victims of accidents by making the service available to them promptly whenever the need arose.
While imploring residents to seek early medical care and encourage them to utilize the service and other health services available in the state, the governor assured them that his administration remains fully committed to improving health outcomes in the State.
He noted that the establishment of the Ekiti state ambulance service, was part of his administration’s efforts at ensuring safe city and protecting the integrity of lives in the state adding that the service would leverage the existing state emergency call centre and the toll-free number 112 as well as take advantage of the established safe city initiative of his government.
Dr Fayemi also announced that the service would create an opportunity to expand the workforce of the state through recruitment of more healthcare workers who would be specifically trained in basic and advanced life support to deliver excellent services.
“This is yet another milestone in our journey in delivering quality, timely, life-saving health services to the people of Ekiti state. The establishment of an ambulance service is a critical component of providing healthcare to any population and it’s a needed component to all efforts towards improving health security and outcomes.
“Increase economic activities have led to a constant movement of persons leading to a rise in the cases of road traffic accident globally and in Nigeria. And if you go by recent statistics, the cause of death that is most critical in our country is road accidents according to the Federal Road Safety Commission estimates, road accidents account for 20.6 deaths per 100,000 people in Nigeria. Ekiti has also recorded a number of such road accidents.
“Beyond road traffic accidents, severe injuries and other time sensitive illnesses are major contributors to premature disabilities and mortalities emphasizing the need for emergency medical services and time sensitive transportation
“The system architecture for this service is designed to promptly respond to emergency calls, dispatch an ambulance team from the nearest bay, safely transport patients to the nearest General or State Specialist Hospital while collecting and storing data for quality assurance purposes and medical audit. “We are launching this service with four (4) focal ambulances stationed within the three senatorial districts. These four are in addition to the already existing fleet of over 15 ambulances available across all states’ owned hospitals. In the near future, we would expand the fleet and scope of service.
“I want to commend everyone who has worked tirelessly to make this a reality. I also want to extend my gratitude to our partners – The Sustainable Development Goals, the BUA Foundation, and others who continue to support the State’s ambition to become a frontier health service provider.” The Governor stated.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Dr Oyebanji Filani said the provision of the ambulances was a further process in the effort to provide and deliver health services to the people adding that the rationale behind it was to forestall preventable deaths from road accidents by promptly moving people from point of injury directly to the facility where they require care.
The commissioner called on the people of the state to make adequate and effective use of the ambulances in case of any emergency by calling the toll-free number 112.
