CELEBRATING LIVES SAVING LEGACY INITIATIVE

#AbiaOnline
Wednesday, 19th December, 2018 was remarkable as the management and staff of Abia State Emergency Medical Services (Abia EMS) celebrated her day in Aba, Abia State.

The Abia State Emergency Medical Services is one of the several new and innovative healths grants initiated by the health loving Governor of Abia State, Dr. Okezie Victor Ikpeazu. The administration, in its determined effort to provide Abians with qualitative healthcare Services as obtainable in developed parts of the world, conceptualized the idea in 2015 when the Ikpeazu-led administration came on board, following the acquisition of the ‘a number state-of-the-art emergency support vehicles’ or  what could be rather called ‘Mobile Intensive Care Unit’.

The launching of the Abia EMS was done by the Honourable Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole in January, 2017, during the National Council on Health hosted in Abia State, under the watch of Governor Ikpeazu. The Emergency Medical Services programme in Abia State is fashioned after Ambulance Services in the United Kingdom and the 112 Ambulance Services in the USA. It is designed to attend to all medical emergencies across the State and it is accessible through dedicated phone lines (08133556900). The essence of the work of the Emergency Medical Services is to keep any patient at their care alive until arrival at a receiving hospital. This means that the Emergency Medical Services pick victims of various health emergencies and takes care of them in the Intensive Care Unit before handing such victims over to the hospitals. The aim is to sustain the victims’ lives before they receive further medical attention at the hospitals.

The Abia State Emergency Medical Services has saved a good number of persons involved in various serious medical emergencies, including Automobile crashes, Burns injury, Diabetic emergencies, sudden collapse, stroke, heart attach, fall from height, seizure disorders, asthmatic attack etc as the services are not limited to road accidents but extended to other emergencies too. It is important to note that so far, no life has been lost from the point of intervention to the point of hospital hand over of the victims.

One of the beauties of the Abia State Emergency Medical Services Day and celebration is that several persons who were fortunate to be alive today because of the Services provided by EMS were present at the event. They actually benefited from the adequate and efficient Services of the Emergency Medical Services piloted and powered by the Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu. Those victims are alive today because they had preadequate medical care before the intervention at the hospitals.
In the past, a lot of lives had been lost recklessly on the account of absence of trained emergency medical service operators. This service actually keyed into the Governor’s vision of improving life expectancy of the average Abian. Hence, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu,Ph.D deserves commendation for creating the Emergency Medical Services in the State. It is a service that is of extreme importance, following the carnages on our roads and other eventualities.
Also to be commended is the CEO of Abia State Emergency Medical Services, Dr. Chukwuemeka Nwakanma for driving the service so far. The EMS is a brainchild of Dr. Nwakanma. He chose to volunteer his services free of charge to Abians. Dr. Nwakanma has a robust vision of responding to healthcare emergencies. He is doing this in partnership with agencies like the Nigeria Police, FRSC, NSCDC, Nigeria Fire Services and very importantly the Abia State passengers Integrated Manifest & Safety Scheme (ASPIMSS), who offer ambulance Services at all times.
Of course, this man of great insight, the Governor of Abia State, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu is ready again to make Abia better and bring more developments to the State; ranging from health to agriculture, to promotion of SMEs, road infrastructure among others. It is therefore imperative that all and sundry give him the needed support with their PVCs in the 2019 elections. Abia is blessed and healthcare services in the State is moving higher.
UNU,
21/12/2018