Lack of ambulance services at the Nanumba North District hospital in Bimbilla has been identified as one leading cause of patients dying before reaching referral facilities, health officials in the area have revealed.
The absence of ambulance services, according to the health authorities, leads to needless deaths of residents and immediate intervention was needed to save lives.
A week ago, two individuals died. The two, the health officials said, are among several persons in the area who suffered similar fates on their way to a referral facility.
To improvise, a pick-up vehicle which is the official vehicle for the district director has been turned into an ambulance. Another issue bothering health authorities in Bimbilla is the lack of emergency service equipment to enable nursing officers administer first aid to patients before they get to the referral facility.
Health authorities in Bimbilla say they are in dire need of an ambulance to save residents lives. Bimbila district health director Dr Dadia Steven told Zaa News Ntadi Nnajim Paul, that his outfit is trying their best but needs urgent support from government and other benevolent organizations.
The Bimbilla district hospital which serves residents in the area and other nearby districts for the past two years has no ambulance to cater for the needs of critical referrals patients.
According to district health officials, the lack of ambulance in the areas is affecting health care as several lives have been lost due to absence of ambulance service to quickly transport critical referral patients to other major hospitals to access healthcare.
Patients in critical condition such as accidents, complicated labour cases, surgical and others special cases which need to be referred suffer the most. Lives are always under threat since there’s no ambulance to comfortably convey such persons to the referral centers in time.
The hospital woes worsen when the district’s member of parliament who also doubles as minister for defence, Mr. Dominic Nitiwul’s ambulance broke down. This compelled the hospital to resort to the use of one of its old pick-up vehicles.
Dr. Stephen confirmed that several lives have been lost due to the lack of ambulance. He was quick to add that the use of a pickup for referral cases seriously endangers the lives of critical emergency clients, since there’s no space to allow a nurse to accompany such persons to other major hospitals.