The Lagos State Government says it is considering locating ambulance points in all 57 Local Government Areas and Local Council Development Areas of the state.
This was even as the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA has partnered with the state’s Ministry of Health to enhance emergency service delivery and strengthen the Pre-Hospital Care system.
Speaking when he received the management of LASEMA led by its Director-General, Dr. Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr. Olusegun Ogboye, said there was an urgent need to have more ambulance points across the Local Government areas in the state.
He said when the ambulance points were provided at the grassroots, response time to the emergency would be greatly reduced and more lives would be saved while other challenges would be addressed.
Ogboye said the ministry would ensure patients get the best care possible, especially in the golden hour, adding that a committee would be constituted together with civil societies, to have a larger pool of first responders.
He said that the establishment of the committee would help in reducing response time and quicker access to medical services.
“The establishment of LASEMBUS has assisted our operation to save lives and this gave us an edge over other states in terms of emergency rescue,“ he added.
On the gains of the partnership, Oke-Osanyintolu said that the partnership would strengthen the Pre-Hospital Care system in Lagos State and improve on the referral system to achieve the targeted 5-minute response time.
To further improve on the response time, he said that the methodology, adopted by the agency was the establishment of the Local Emergency Management Committee, LEMC, in all 57 LGs/LCDAs.
The LASEMA DG added that the establishment of Local Emergency Cadets comprising 12 well-trained and equipped responders in the 20 LGAs and 37 LCDAs, plus the School and Market Emergency Management Committees, would enable the agency to capture emergency from the grassroots and achieve the 5-minute Response Time.
“In the 21st century, we are talking about a smart city, we want to ensure the use of technology in driving our hospitals, to make us have holistic and comprehensive data of emergency casualties. The collaboration will reduce the deflation of funds and will also reduce fatalities to the barest minimum.
“All the challenges we witness in referring casualties would be looked into. The Pre-Hospital Care, Lagos State Emergency Service (LASEMBUS) was established on 27th March 2001, to improve awareness campaigns on the preventive aspect of medical emergencies.
“This includes home, road, traffic, industrial accidents, and how to access service,” he said.
Oke-Osanyintolu urged the hospital management to improve operations of the Hospital Management Committee, to enhance the emergency victim’s referral system.
He said that Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu had identified some challenges in Pre-hospital care, and was trying to strengthen it and ensure the golden hour was efficiently managed.
Also speaking, the Managing Director, of OMARLINK Integrated Services Ltd., Mrs. Tolagbe Martins, called for synergy with the hospital to reduce the fatality rate in the state.
Culled from PM News