2 Bolga ambulances crash

Two ambulances belonging to the National Ambulance Service in the Upper East Region have been involved in separate accidents within three days.

Following these accidents, the Builsa District and Bolgatanga Municipality would be without a substantive ambulance from the National Ambulance Service as the two vehicles have all been severely damaged and would have to be changed for the Service or undergo thorough repairs to be able to stand the speed and frequent use. This is expected to take some months to happen.

The Officer In-Charge of the National Ambulance Service in the Upper East, Awuni Baba Ali, could not tell the DAILY GUIDE when there would be a replacement of the damaged ambulances, saying, the procedure in retrieving the vehicles from the Police took some time.

“Our ambulances need to be in very good condition due to the role they play, and if they are not good, they cannot do the work effectively to render the timely care to save lives. If it becomes critical, we will have to depend on other districts for an ambulance to attend to emergency situations in the Bolgatanga Municipality and Builsa district,” he stated.

On Sunday, June 2, 2013, the substantive ambulance for the whole of Bolgatanga Municipality was rushing a patient to the Regional Hospital when a motor rider crossed the vehicle resulting in the accidents.

Just two days after this accident, the substantive ambulance for the Builsa District was rushing a woman with post delivery complications from Sandema to the Regional hospital in Bolgatanga in the night, when a black bull crossed the vehicle at Yikine, a suburb of Bolgatanga.

The black bull according to eye-witness reports had been used for ploughing on a farm near the Bolgatanga-Navrongo road on Tuesday June 4, afternoon and was left untethered to graze. The bull crossed the ambulance and due to the absence of street lights at that portion of the road the driver could not see the black bull on time, resulting in the accident. Eye-witness report says the woman with the post delivery complications was rushed to the hospital in a taxi together with the two nurses on board the ambulance.

There have been some announcements by the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly asking owners of animals not to leave them to stray on the streets.

The Officer In-Charge of the National Ambulance Service, noted that, indiscipline on the part of road users across the Upper East Region was a major problem hindering the work of the National Ambulance Service.

“Our people still do not give way to the ambulance despite the loud siren sound. Sometimes, they want to race with the ambulance. On many occasions, they succeed in escaping unhurt and, so they fail to learn lessons. On Sunday June 2, 2013, this rider could not escape unhurt. This attitude is bad, and people have to stop that and learn to respect the road regulations,” he said.

Disrespect for road signs and the traffic light is a common practice in the Bolgatanga Municipality which over the years had resulted in some accident cases.

A nurse at the Regional Hospital in Bolgatanga told the DAILY GUIDE that an average of three motor bike accidents were recorded on a daily basis, and it was becoming a worry to the health facility.