By Asmau Ahmad
No fewer than 100 frontline healthcare workers have been trained on basic emergency services for the rollout of the National Emergency Medical Service and Ambulance System (NEMSAS).
The training organised by the Nigeria’s Federal Government and supported by the World Health Organisation (WHO) was to address the missing link in emergency healthcare services.
Speaking at the end of the training held in Abuja, the National Programme Manager, NEMSAS, Dr Saidu Dambulwa said the government is determined to reduce the dismal indices of morbidity and mortality in the country.
Dr Dambulwa said “We are all aware that we have primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare but we don’t have emergency medical services.
“We are here purposely to build capacity among healthcare providers, especially in the Federal Capital Territory, which is the preferred state to roll out the emergency programme.
“We have so far trained health providers in the FCT; and those who have expressed interest to work with NEMSAS.
“We have trained the ambulance service providers; we have trained almost all the public health facilities in the FCT; we trained a doctor and a nurse from each hospital in the FCT ahead of the preparations to roll out NEMSAS and we will be expanding.
“So far, we have received an expression of interest from 13 states willing to work with us.”
Dambulwa noted that the rollout of the programme will commence in the next few weeks.
Also speaking, the WHO Country Representative, Dr. Walter Kazadi Mulombo said the organisation is committed to supporting NEMSAS.
“The WHO made the commitment to support Nigeria in BHCPF through the NHA. We were instrumental in the revision of the guidelines that paved the way in better informing the states on how to roll out the BHCPF.
“As you know there are gateways for the BHCPF and NEMSAS is one of them, which is meant to address the chronic issue of high morbidity and mortality due to emergency health conditions.
“We are happy that with our support, the government through the Federal Ministry of Health has rolled this training for frontline workers who engage in attending to patients with emergency healthcare needs.
“It’s a very commendable step and we can only hope that it can be cascaded to all the states,” Mulombo said.
We will also continue to engage other stakeholders to join the initiative, he said.
On his part, Prof. Michael Odeh, said the training is to build capacity among healthcare workers on emergency services.
“There is a need to have enough capacity to be able to train healthcare workers at all levels both in the rural and urban areas so that they can be able to treat life-threatening conditions during an emergency,” he said.
