Federal government deploys 13 ambulances to Ogun to strengthen emergency care

Nigeria’s Federal Government has sent 13 emergency ambulances to Ogun State as it expands a national system intended to bring medical care to patients before they reach hospital. The deployment includes three Advanced Trauma Life Support ambulances, one Basic Life Support ambulance and nine tricycle ambulances.

Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare Iziaq Adekunle Salako formally launched the deployment in Ogun. It is being carried out under the National Emergency Medical Services and Ambulance System, known as NEMSAS, which the government says will coordinate emergency dispatch, trained personnel, pre-hospital treatment, transportation and referrals.

The first phase of the nationwide rollout includes 145 tricycle ambulances, six boats, 15 Basic Life Support ambulances and 79 Advanced Trauma Life Support ambulances. In Ogun, the vehicles are expected to reinforce emergency response at high-volume facilities such as the Federal Medical Centre in Abeokuta and Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital. They will also serve communities where distance and terrain make emergency care harder to access.

Salako said free emergency obstetric services delivered through NEMSAS and the Maternal Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative had enabled more than 48,000 pregnant women to receive emergency obstetric care. More than 4,000 of them underwent caesarean sections, he said.

The minister attributed a 17% reduction in maternal mortality and a 12% reduction in neonatal mortality across 172 high-burden local government areas to the interventions. He stressed that trained personnel and sustainable funding would determine whether the ambulance services operate effectively, and said the federal government would continue working with states, hospitals and first responders to expand coordinated emergency care.