The Public Relations Officer (PRO) for the Ghana Ambulance Service, Simon Yussif Kewura, says his outfit is requesting for marine and air ambulances for the Service’s operations.
Speaking during an interview, he made the call and indicated that the Service has been requesting for the air ambulances for some years now.
“We are calling for air ambulances, we have already made that request. With this air ambulance issue, we have been making requests for more than 6 to 7 years now. So, it depends on our resources but we need at least five so that cases that happens in the hinterlands we will be able to solve the problem.
“Aside the air ambulance, we are also requesting for marine ambulances. If you are fighting for us to get that one then you have to also add marine ambulances. We need the marine ambulances on our waters. When you go to the Volta Region where this lake is,;a lot of accidents are happening on our waters so, we need some of these things there.”
Yussif Kewura
Explaining how this will work, he disclosed that it will be stationed at vantage places. He said some will be patrolling along the sea particularly on occasions such as holidays when people are at the beaches.
“We have to be there so that when there is a case, we will handle it. We will also station them at places where we have the pontoons working; so that incase of any disaster, we will be able to move in.”
Yussif Kewura
More ambulances needed
Commenting on the issue of ambulances in the country, he called for more ambulances in the various constituencies saying the available ones are not enough and cannot serve every constituency.
Mr. Kewura indicated that some constituencies are big and need more ambulances to help them work. He explained that this is influenced by the population in the constituencies as well.
Clarifying his early statement on how the ambulance works, Mr Kewura indicated that the service attends to only emergency and not non-emergency cases.
His comment followed allegations that patients have to book a bed at the hospital before they call for an ambulance to pick them up from their location when they have a medical emergency.
Earlier in an interview, Mr. Kewura stated that patients have to book their beds before ambulances come for them from their locations. However, he said that statement was for non-emergency cases.
“This is a process work. We have two types of cases that we handle. We have emergency and non-emergency. The emergency cases are those that happened at the spot such as road traffic accidents or if a woman is in labor. These are some of the emergency cases.
“At the ambulance service, we are not doctors but paramedics. So, we cannot offer the services the doctors will offer.”
Yussif Kewura
Touching on the issue of the prisons officer who passed due to unavailable hospital beds, he said the patient was supposed to make arrangements at the Senior hospital he was to be transferred to.
“The patient was supposed to book a bed and maybe they would have gotten a bed with the help of his relatives. But unfortunately, this was not done.”
Yussif Kewura
