A ten-member Upper East Regional Ambulance Service Committee has been inaugurated in Bolgatanga , to ensure safe and timely movement of injured persons from accident spots to the nearest health facility.

The formation of the Committee was in furtherance of the National Ambulance Service programme, initiated by President J.A. Kufuor in 2003, and initially implemented on pilot basis in the Eastern, Greater Accra, Ashanti, Central and Volta Regions.

The Chairman of the Committee was the Regional Co-ordinating Director Mr. Samuel N’lary.

Other members included one representative each from the Regional Police Command, the National Disaster Management Organisation, Ghana Red Cross Society and Ghana National Fire Service.

The rest were the Regional Director of Health Services, the Senior Medical Officer in-charge of the Bolgatanga Central Hospital, the Chairman of the Regional Road Safety Committee, and the Chairman of the Regional branch of Ghana Private Road Transport Union and the Commander of the Airborne Force detachment stationed in the Region.

The Regional Co-ordinating Director who delivered the inaugural address on behalf of the outgoing Regional Minister, Boniface Gambila, noted that the event was taking place at a time the spate of road accidents in the Region was on the ascendancy.

He said in January this year, four ambulance vans allocated to the Region from the National Programme were sent to the Talensi-Nabdam, Garu-Tempane, Bawku East and Bolgatanga districts and that the remaining districts in the Region would be catered for when more vans arrived.

Mr. Gambila said the duties of the Regional Committee would include the provision of a bay for the ambulances, an office and a crew room for the nine emergency medical technicians in attendance and to activate communication links between the office and the public.

Dr. Joseph Amankwah, the Regional Director of Health Services and member of the Committee, said the Ambulance Services could promote health care delivery, noting that many deaths occurred due to inefficient handling of accident victims and other critically ill patients en-route to health facilities.

Dr. Amankwah expressed concern about the acute shortage of medical doctors at the Regional Hospital, which according to him had only two of doctors and said the situation affected health care delivery.

Dr. Aduku Amiah, Senior Medical Officer in-charge of the Regional Hospital, called for the posting of more medical doctors to the Hospital to ensure effective health care delivery and the successful operation of the Regional Ambulance Services.

Source: GNA