The Greater Accra Regional Ambulance Service Administrator, Dr Daniel Asare, has called on authorities to provide the service with new ambulances, noting that many of the current fleet are aged and in poor condition.
Dr Daniel Asare, who is also a Principal Advanced Emergency Medical Technologist (PAEMT), disclosed that of the 5.2 million people in the region, only 42 functional ambulances are available to serve the region.
He stated that over 100 ambulances are needed in the region to ensure they deliver efficient service to the public.
Speaking during the “Walk Aboard” event, part of the Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) and Paramedic Week celebration, Mr Asare indicated that several of the ambulances are not in good condition and are being worked on in their workshops.
He further disclosed that they need more office accommodation to help EMTs work more effectively.
“We need new ambulances to increase our fleet of vehicles to meet the country’s population. Some of the ambulances have suffered wear and tear, and several of them are also at a workshop. In the Greater Accra region, out of a population of over 5.2 million, only 42 ambulances are serving the entire population, so there is a deficit. We need over 100 ambulances to serve the population. We will also need office accommodation to enable our EMTs to work. We need more EMTs. We have about 3,500 EMTs, but we need more hands. So we are appealing to the government to give us the financial clearance so we can recruit more hands.”
Mr Asare cautioned the general public against attacking ambulance personnel during emergency operations.
He described such acts as unpatriotic and dangerous to the delivery of critical health services.
He also warned against prank calls to the emergency service, which he said waste valuable time and resources and delay genuine emergency responses.
