Yobe State Emergency Medical Services and Ambulance System (SEMSAS), says it has responded to 930 emergencies since inception in 2023.
The Executive Secretary, Dr Abdullahi Danchua, stated this at the inauguration of a two-day retreat of the National Emergency Medical Treatment Committee (NEMTC), on Thursday in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the National Emergency Medical Emergency and Ambulance Service (NEMSAS) coordinates the operationalisation of emergency medical services in Nigeria through domesticated SEMSAS in the 36 states and FCT.
It is aimed at providing 24 hours emergency health services to Nigerians.
Danchua said the emergencies had been referred to treatment centers with 98.5 per cent of the cases surviving the first 48 hours in the facilities.
He, however, said the state recorded 14 mortalities out of the number within the first 48 hours at the treatment facilities.
According to Danchua, the services are currently operational in four of the 17 local government areas of the state.
He said that to meet the emergency needs of the state, the organisation has nine buses in its ambulance fleet and 60 tricycles distributed to Primary Healthcare Centers for rural emergency services.
The aim, he said, was to provide high-quality, timely, accessible, and equitable emergency medical and ambulance services through innovative and ICT-driven systems to people of the state.
The National Programme Manager of the NEMSAS, Dr Saidu Dumbulwa, said that going by the testimonials from Yobe state within one year of operation, it showed that the scheme’s goal was achievable.
“Almost 1,000 lives were saved in Yobe, with only 1.5 per cent mortality recorded, which is a very significant effort that will change the narrative as a whole.
“Imagine now if all the 36 states are actually operational, working and every year they are saving 1,000 lives, how many lives are we going to save?
“So, we are determined and very committed with the stakeholders, the state participation, to ensure that we actually deliver the expectation.”
The Chairman of NEMTC, Dr Ismaila Jubrin, said that the service was operational in 16 states with the hope of expanding it exponentially.
According to him, the goal is to have emergency services made available as the need arises to reduce avoidable mortalities, especially those related to maternal and child care.
He said the treat was designed to address some of the gaps in the implementation of the services, adding that: “We are going to discuss how to roll out this important piece of service across the country and to reach even the rural areas.
“We will be targeting especially maternal and child emergency conditions so as to reduce our dismal mortality rate among the women as well as children.
“We are looking to address most of the challenges that have to do with communication, personnel, equipment and vehicles.
“We have identified first that there is lack of awareness in our communities about the presence of this service, even about the existence of an emergency toll-free number that anybody can call 112 and get a response quickly.” (NAN).
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