Improving Care & Response in Nigeria

The journey of EMS care in Nigeria has been a long and challenging one. Before 1995, ambulances in Nigeria were known for undertakers' services and not for carrying live patients.1 That year an oil company operating in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria kicked off a rudimentary ambulance system by engaging an ambulance for rescue and conveying of their emergency staff to the hospital. In the early 90s, Tokaro Emergency Medical Services, a division of an Israeli business group, introduced EMS in Lagos State. Due to low patronage and failed attempts to train some doctors in prehospital care, Tokaro EMS was disbanded a few years after its introduction and was subsequently bought by the newly emerging Emergency Response Services Group. In 2001 the Lagos State Government started its first attempt to implement EMS using the foreign firm. Shortly after this, in 2002, Rivers State Government started the second government owned EMS under the consultancy of Emergency Response Services Group. Subsequently, many other states began to make attempts to have EMS, including the states of Enugu, Ondo, Ogun, Delta, Akwa Ebom and the Federal Capital Territory. Other small private EMS agencies also started to emerge. Red cross rescue workers carry an unidentified body into a waiting ambulance after removing it from the rubble of collapsed building in Lagos, Nigeria. AP Photo/George Osodi EMS in Nigeria Today The current status of EMS in Nigeria reflects many attempts by both state governments ...
Source: JEMS Administration and Leadership - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Ambulances & Vehicle Ops Cardiac Resuscitation Communications Dispatch Source Type: news