After last month’s tragic Chibombo road traffic accident which left more than 50 passengers dead, Government plans to procure more than 200 ambulances to boost emergency response during accidents, Health Minister Joseph Kasonde has said.
Dr Kasonde was speaking during a Chibombo accident stakeholders’ review meeting at the National Malaria Control Centre in Lusaka this week.
It has been noticed that emergency response at accident scenes was still poor and raised a high risk of victims dying at accident points.
The 200 ambulances to be equipped with basic and advanced life support machinery would be distributed in all the districts countrywide.
This is amidst increasing accidents in most parts of the country.
Also on cards was to improve aero-medical services by the Zambia Flying Doctor Services (ZFDS) to efficiently evacuate the injured by air.
“The setting up of national, provincial and district emergency response teams and centres will improve response time and the teams will be thoroughly trained in emergency response. The need for appropriate and reliable transport in emergency response can’t be overemphasised,” Dr Kasonde said.
He said his ministry would create a trauma rescue service that would respond to emergency cases resulting from accidents.
Officials from the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA), security wings, and health institutions attended the review meeting.
The meeting was aimed at reviewing the performance of emergency response during the Chibombo accident and map out a stronger approach to respond to future calamities.
Dr Kasonde said Government had a passion to increase emergency health services and as such trained paramedics would manage the rescue services.
He said pre-hospital care of trauma victims was needed by improving on response time and by providing such care at the site and in transit up to the referral facility.
To this effect 139 staff had been trained in critical care while 69 were trained in trauma management in all the provinces.
His ministry planned to establish a command and communication centre which would improve coordination and communication in an emergency situation.
Dr Kasonde said emergency health services had been non-existent with no trained personnel to transport victims which had resulted in poor emergency response systems due to poor communication.
According to a RTSA’s report of 2012, the country recorded an average of 1, 200 fatalities from road accidents annually and 80 percent of these occurred in Lusaka.
In 2011 RTSA recorded 1, 670 fatalities, in 2012, a total of 2,265 fatalities were recorded indicating an increase of about 26% in the number of fatalities from road traffic accidents.
It was for this reason that Government had seen the need to streamline the emergency preparedness and response with full participation of all stakeholders including the private sector.
And acting director mobile and emergency health services, Chabwera Shuma said if all emergency needs were in place, the number of deaths in the Chibombo accidents could have been reduced.
Dr Shumba said it was for this reason that the ministry saw the need to intensify emergency needs for the country to mitigate the number of emergency deaths.
And Government yesterday told parliament that it will soon procure motor vehicles for all police stations across the country.
Minister of Home Affairs Deputy Minister Winfridah Kasembe noted that government wants to enhance and easy the operations of the police.
Ms Kasembe said this in response to a question by Mwinilunga Member of Parliament Steven Katuka who wanted to know when government will provide a motor vehicle to Mwinilunga Police Station for operations.
The Deputy Minister said once government procures the vehicles they would be distributed immediately to the police stations.
Ms Kasembe said once the vehicles are distributed government through her Ministry expects the vehicles to be used for their intended purposes.
And Ms Kasembe pointed out that Mwinilunga Police Station has a vehicle which is operational but was currently going through maintenance.
She however said that an additional vehicle will be procured and provided to enhance productivity at Mwinilunga Police Station.
While this is a welcome idea, there is more to emergency response than procuring ambulances alone.
We want workable and sustainable emergency response plans in place not some random and emotive ones
Further, we want to see the complete stop to evacuation of politicians out of the country for treatment.
Improve all our health institutions to meet the standards of worth people going to.
Why poverty in the midst of plenty?
You and others below are making good points but to be fair the doctor has mentioned more than transportation in the article. The training of staff, setting up of centres and a command centre amongst others.
Setting emergency centers for both fire & medical emergencies, they should be buying 200 ambulances every 3 months. 200 is just enough for a province.
But again this just a promise/plan, I will never trust PF. Dr. Kasonde may wish to do that, but once he takes it to Sata, he will be shouted at and drop everything.
While functioning emergency response teams are necessary, well-equipped trauma and emergency centers at hospitals are just as crucial. No matter how sophisticated an ambulance may be, it can never substitute a well-manned and properly equipped hospital emergency room.
Emergency response has to be looked at as a system. A system in which (not necessarily in the same order) proper transportation of trauma patients is the first hurdle, functioning emergency rooms is second, well trained emergency room doctors is third, and recovery and physical therapy facilities are last.
Expensive, YES! But nothing comes cheap in a civilized society. Otherwise, people will still die after being dumped at the hospital!
Commendable but more to be done now not tomorrow.
1.Train the police in basic life support (BLS).They are usually the first to arrive on the scene.(Offer post trauma care counselling to the police thereafter.)
2.Ambulance drivers must also be oriented in basic life support.
3.All Health workers must be trianed in BLS
4.All health institutions must be well stocked with essential medications
5.Emergency /Trauma care Institute must be set up immediately.
Lives are being lost on the roads not only due to bad drivers or defective vehicles but also due to poor pre-hospital care which is a very important in caring of acident victims.If PF is a listening govt. all these ambulances should be in by June 2013 and contigency neasures in place by May 2013
Just get rid of that Ambulance driver that’s outdated and wasteful let the paramedics themselves drive these emergency vehicles. In the UK there are usually one of a two-person ambulance crew, with an emergency care assistant to assist them.
Government is expected to procure 106 ambulances to provide emergency services in preparation for the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) General Assembly scheduled for August next year.
Source: Lusaka Times December 27, 2012
So, is this in addition to or part of the 200?
Good observation, PF is known for deceit, lies more promises. Less delivery….we await!!
Learn from lumwana and kansashi,they have sections that manges these problems and training pr ovided to them by AARTA and ER24.
You also need to sort out the root causes of the accidents if you want this measure to be effective
BRAVO TO ALL U THAT HAVE COMMENTED SO FAR! NO INSULTS AND OTHER NEGATIVES. VERY EDUCATIVE. GOVERNMENT GO ON WITH THAT 4 THAT IS TO THE BENIFIT OF 0.GOD BLESS U O .
Really good!! This is what we are doing as government in power.We thank you hounarable and we hope this will be done soon.We are seeing improvements and still mending the mistakes made by MMD.
I hope 200 ambulances doesn’t equate to 200 new drivers…they should train the selfsame paramedics how to drive them properly especially at high speeds and in traffic. Its efficient and saves costs!!
Jay Jay, thats why they will employee minibus drivers who drive at maximum speed, useless government.
Best to employee ex-military (veterans) who have saved as peace keepers, they have seen alot in their tour of duty, they will respond quicker than those picked cadres.
Ka masebo has already tutored him on how to get commission, rescuing a person who will end up dying in uth because of lack of oxygen
Very good idea – also ensure the hospitals are well equpped to receive and treat the injured.
Ambulances need an emergency alert system in place in order to serve people effectively
Interesting comments and quite mature! Keep it up bane and let us not be like those dimwit creatures on ZWD!
As someone said why not investigate via a commission on inquiry why we have high numbers of accidents on our trunk roads; is it because there are too many poorly trained drivers or too many people driving under the influence or is it too many foreign drivers?
Yes its one thing buying ambulances and other equipment and another thing when it comes to using them properly – train the paramedics how to drive these emergency vehicles at especially high speeds get rid of the driver who is not qualified paramedic in most cases in Zambia. This saves overall running costs and highly trained professionals take pride in looking after their equipment.
*a commission of inquiry
Why do our politicians love the future tense? Why not the present tense? What is happening right now?
Govt should learn to put some of these projects into private hands with experience to succeed. They should have a budget alocated to foot the bill.Thats how it works in successful economies.
better to die in hospital than on the road side.
add a chopper also for each province after all its our money
Hw different r they from the idea of mobile hospitals, two steps forward three steps backwards