KCCA receives ambulances from health ministry

PIC: The ambulances handed to KCCA at the health ministry headquarters in Kampala on Thursday. (Credit: Derrick Wasibi)

HEALTH

KAMPALA - The old-fashioned way of bundling accident victims on Police trucks enroute to health facilities may soon be phased out as Government embarks on a new ambulance system for emergency cases.
 
To give the new system a headshot, the health ministry on Thursday handed over seven new ambulances to the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) to ease medical referrals in Kampala.
 
They will aid in transporting casualties at no cost in the Kampala metropolitan areas to the nearest health public centres or referrals.
 
The ambulances, purchased through the Africa Development Bank, were officially handed over to KCCA by the undersecretary at the health ministry, Dr Ronald Ssegawa, at the ministry headquarters in Kampala on Thursday.
 
Ssegawa, while handing over the vehicles, said KCCA is the most appropriate institution to deliver services to Ugandans. He said it will position the ministry better to deal with road accidents and emergency services for citizens.
 
"The ministry will concentrate on standard, quality, supervision, mobilisation and quality assurance. The Government has also plans to take this to other regions," he said.
 
Ssegawa also urged citizens to donate blood to help causalities, who in most cases, lose a lot of blood in accidents.
 
"We request Ugandans to donate blood. Right now, there are centrEs where blood is being collected, but there are no donors. As Government tackles the issue of funding, we also request people to avail themselves for the donation," he said.

ALL SET: KCCA's Deborah Mbabazi test-drives one of the ambulances

Juliet Namuddu, the KCCA director for education, who is also the acting deputy executive director, revealed the Authority's plans to educate and sensitise the public on emergencies and also strengthen accidents and emergency units in the city.
 
"The concept is a good idea because it is going to save the lives of our people in the city. It is very difficult to respond to emergencies because many people do not know whom to call in case of emergencies.

"We already have a memorandum of understanding with the College of Health Sciences (at Makerere University) and one of the key areas of collaboration is research," Namuddu said.
 
"We are also going to have a call and dispatch centre at KCCA as soon as the resources can allow," she added.
 
According to Ssegawa, the cost of the seven ambulance vans was approximately sh138m.
 
The Kampala Resident City Commissioner, Deborah Mbabazi, called for professionalism and a high degree of sensitivity while handling emergency cases.
 
"The rescue team should be on standby, sensitive and responsive. We ask the handlers of this facility to be effective so that we maintain the ambulances so that they can be durable for a longer time and serve their capacity," she said.  
 
A call and dispatch centre has also been enabled for co-ordination of the dispatch of ambulances across the city. The toll free number to call is 912.