Class Media Group to fix 95 faulty ambulances

Class Media Group (CMG), which owns Class91.3FM, Accra100.5FM, No. 1FM 105.3FM, HoFM92.5, Adehye99.1 FM, Kumasi104.1 FM, CTV, ClassFMonline.com and AccraFM.com, is set to partner corporate Ghana and some auto firms, to repair all 95 dysfunctional ambulances of the Ghana National Ambulance Service, which have been lying idle for the past four years.

The move is coming in the wake of growing calls for the country’s ambulance stock to be increased and made operational.

Government has promised some 275 new ambulances for use across the country through its One Constituency-One Million Dollar agenda, but that is yet to materialise.

Reports about the circumstances surrounding the sudden death of former Vice-President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur during a morning workout session has also intensified conversation about the need to improve emergency ambulance services in Ghana. Out of 155 ambulances available, only 55 are operational, according to the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Ghana National Ambulance Service, Simon Kewura.

As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility, the Accra-based media giant has volunteered to provide support to have more ambulances functional.

The management of CMG believes it is important to channel some private sector intervention into the health delivery system as part of the company’s contribution to the well-being of society.

Meanwhile, Public Relations Officer of the Ghana National Ambulance Service, Mr Simon Kewura, who spoke to Moro Awudu on Class91.3FM's Executive Breakfast Show on Tuesday, 3 June, had explained that some 30 sub-standard ambulances procured by the Ministry of Health under the Mahama administration, are to be converted into minibuses and used for public transport.



The faulty ambulances which are currently sitting idle at the Airforce Base, were part of some 200 procured by the Mahama administration.

"The then-NDC administration was supposed to procure 200 new ambulances for us [Ghana National Ambulance Service] and out of it, 30 of them arrived in batches but after we inspected them, we realised that they didn't meet our standards as a service and as a country because the ambulances that we are using are supposed to have some basic life-support gadgets or instruments on board, but looking at the 30 that we had, this part of the 200 doesn't meet the requirement at all. So, as an institution, we said: 'No, we are going to use these ambulances to save lives, so, if they cannot save lives, then they are not ambulances, so, we decided to say no to those ambulances,” he said.

Explaining what a standard ambulance must have, Mr Kewura said: "When we talk about a standard ambulance, it's supposed to have some basic medical and consumable instruments on board the ambulance such as oxygen cylinders, such as AED machines, blood pressure machines, trawlers, and then well-fitted structures and a whole lot of others, but these particular ambulances, you'll not get them".

"Even the seat belts, even the seats for Emergency Medical Technicians that are working on board, some are not on this particular ambulances, but a standard ambulance is supposed to have these on board so that our Emergency Medical Technicians can sit down or stand and fasten themselves in the seat belts comfortably to attend to patients because when the vehicle is moving, it's not stable, they need to also support themselves but when you look at these particular ambulances, it is not so".



"We recommended that they should have a second look at it, so, the Ministry [of Health] commissioned Silver Star Company to investigate the ambulances and find out whether we can do something about it, so, their report indicates that we cannot use it for ambulances because it doesn't meet the requirement.

"So, according to the committee, what they can do is to convert them into minibuses for passengers for public transport. It depends on the ministry to decide which institutions to give them to", Mr Kewura said.

He revealed that there are 95 ambulances which have broken down or been involved in accidents and need fixing.

"The broken-down ambulances that we have, we need to fix them and fixing them requires a lot of money because some of them have engine problem, we have to get a new engine and it's very expensive".

He said the Ghana National Ambulance Service needs about GHS11,000 per every improvised engine, adding that ambulances are supposed to be changed every five years.