A Nigerian neurological surgeon, Dr. biodun Ogungbo has called on the federal government to establish an Emergency Medical Service (EMS) in each state of the federation including the Federal Capital Territory.
According to him, this would supplement the effort of other emergency agencies like the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).
Dr. Ogungbo who is the Director of Brain and Spine Surgery LTD Abuja, said the government needs to rethink its strategies for saving lives and develop the system to ensure that every life matters, noting that government needs to train and deploy more paramedics.
Speaking in Abuja, he said: "A lot of advocacy is required to explain the worth of paramedics to the Ministry of Health, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). The paramedics already trained are a much-needed manpower resource waiting to be deployed. We have paramedics in Nigeria, and I understand that the training takes place mostly at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH).
"But there are also training centres in Delta, Ogun and Rivers states. The programme, set up in 2008, was designed to churn out graduates every three years. Since its inception, UBTH has graduated about 130 paramedics. Can you imagine having trained paramedics helping in the transfer of critically ill patients from one hospital to another? Can you see the benefit of such, especially during this period of a worldwide pandemic? Can you imagine having trained paramedics helping in the safe transfer of critically injured patients from our roads to hospitals"
Speaking further, Ogungbo noted that many of the country's ambulance drivers are not medically skilled in rendering first aid but rely on other members of the healthcare team.
"Therein lies our shame and lack of understanding of the role of a paramedic. Many hospitals, including that of yours truly, have just ambulance drivers and rely on other members of the healthcare team, especially nurses, to render emergency care, as necessary," He added.
0 Comments
Add comment