Currently, Kasese district has no government ambulance after the only one that was serving Bwera General Hospital caught fire while transporting a patient to Fort-Portal regional referral hospital last year.
Emergency service providers have asked the government to urgently invest in ambulance services, especially in the hard-to-reach areas in Kasese district.
Currently, Kasese district
has no government ambulance after the only one that was serving Bwera General
Hospital caught fire while transporting a patient to Fort-Portal regional referral
hospital last year.
Joseph Senkumba from the Association
of Ambulance Professionals, says that the demand for patient transportation services
has been soaring since 2020 yet the district largely relies on private ambulances, many of which cannot drive into the hard-to-reach areas.
He notes that the number
of emergency calls for ambulances has increased drastically in recent times
as a result of the increasing number of natural disasters and road accidents.
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Senkumba added that creating emergency departments at lower local health facilities means there will be a
focus on people who need emergencies at the right time.
He said that a number of
people have died due to the absence of emergency services.
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Bwambale Edgar Pawe working
with Kagando rural hospital told Uganda Radio Network in an interview that there
has been a massive increase in demand for medical emergency services. He says that many health
facilities have improvised emergency rooms that lack the equipment for saving the lives of
those in critical condition.
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Isuka Azaliya, the Kasese
district commissioner for SCOUTS demands that government extends motorcycle ambulances
to health emergency workers so that they can respond to incidents in hard-to-reach areas on time.
He also decried the number
of patients, especially pregnant and delivering mothers losing their lives due
to the absence of good ambulances.
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Felic Muhindo Magulu, the district
executive commissioner for SCOUTs says reaching out to emergencies requires
transport but they are forced to use commercial Boda bodas, which are not
suitable for transporting patients. He also wants the government to provide motorcycles ambulances to ease their voluntary work.
Lukhonzo byte
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Esther
Kabugho, a resident of road bearer in Kilembe, says patients including pregnant
women are forced to travel a long distance to reach government hospitals in Kasese
town due to the absence of transport.
