The Federal Government says it is set to launch an emergency medical and ambulance service across Nigeria.
The Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, revealed this during a retreat organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Healthcare Services on the amendment of the 2014 National Health Act.
According to the Minister, the Federal Government is pulling all ambulances together to form the National Emergency Medical Service and Ambulance System (NEMAS), which will be launched within the next month.
Dr. Osagie said by dialing the emergency code 112, Nigerians can access emergency ambulance service within minutes, at no cost.
With this initiative, Nigerians are now guaranteed first hand attention during emergency events such as road crashes, fire incidents and all other emergency cases.
In the first quarter of 2020, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) said it recorded 3,947 road crashes and 1,758 deaths.
This is according to a statement by Corps Public Education Officer, Bisi Kazeem. Kazeem said that the recorded deaths occurred between January and March 2020.
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He said the deaths occurred in various routes within the country during the period.
He said:
The 3,947 number of Road Traffic Crashes (RTC) recorded in the first quarter of 2020 involved 6,448 vehicles. Out of this number, 1,758 were killed and 11,250 were injured.
Kaduna zone recorded the highest number of crashes, totalling 689 while Enugu zone recorded the lowest with 102 crashes.
Also, Nigeria recorded several fire incidents that claimed lives in the period under view.
In the meantime, Nigerians have applauded the initiative, saying that it will lead to a reduction in death recorded from accidents and other emergency cases.
