The Rector, College of Surgeons and Physicians Professor Paul Nyame, has identified the lack of trained personnel, equipment and other resources as the factors militating against quality emergency care delivery in the country. He said emergency medicine and other health needs were poorly served both at the pre-hospital or the hospital phases thus contributing to high mortality in the country. Prof. Nyame was speaking at a National Ambulance Service (NAS) management meeting under the theme: “Building an Effective Emergency Medical Service for Ghana”. He said the NAS must be integrated into the health service to enable it get the needed recognition. "We need to avoid the present situation where the staff of the NAS are treated like strangers when they attend hospital. We need a unified coordinated and harmonized health service embracing all branches of health delivery". Prof. Nyame said the college would soon train more NAS attendants for different levels of emergencies to effectively handle emergency cases. He noted that if the NAS was properly equipped, it would give a tremendous boost to health delivery and reduce the mortality rate among Ghanaians. Prof. Nyame condemned the wrongful use of sirens by both the service and ordinary vehicles adding, "This practice has now allowed people to take the service for granted". Dr. Ahmed Zakariah, Director of the NAS expressed his concern about the number of avoidable deaths that occur in the country’s hospitals and attributed them to the delay in attending to emergency cases. "Others are the ineffective systems in identifying and rescuing deteriorating patients and the inability and delays in transfer of patients to critical care units". He said the absence of a bill to push the needs of the service was also a major setback since its establishment in 2001. Dr. Zakariah deplored the actions of some hospitals and health facilities refusal to receive emergency cases and appealed to them to at least provide first aid for the patients during such critical conditions. Source: GNA