Ms. Boateng receiving her award from Mr. Babgin
A TOTAL of 121 students have passed out after a two year period of emergency medical training.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony of the first batch of advanced Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) in Accra, Minister of Health, Alban S. K Bagbin, commended the National Ambulance Service, headed by Dr. Ahmed Nuhu Zakariah, and the Ghana National Fire Academy, headed by the Commandant, Samuel Offei Adade, for making the training possible.
He also raised concerns over the lack of patience some Ghanaians are exhibiting in waiting for distribution of the newly acquired ambulances to the selected districts across the country.
Government, a few weeks ago, received the first batch of 50 ambulances out of a total 161, to support the National Ambulance Service. These ambulances, according to the minister, have since been deployed to the districts
He said the state has to go through the process of owning the ambulances before they can be dispersed into the districts and tasked Ghanaians to exercise patience for the necessary documentation to be completed.
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In response to the recent blame leveled against his ministry over the ambulances, Mr. Bgabin said, “The fact that the emergency medical service system in Korle-Bu failed and somebody died doesn’t mean we should just pick them from the harbor…We are all up to our task, nobody is sleeping and let’s be sensitive to each other’s feelings,” he added.
He said the ambulances are equipped with state-of-the-art medical equipment and will employ only qualified paramedics.
Government is committed to ensuring that lives are not lost due to delays in getting victims of disasters and accidents to health facilities, the minister said.
He noted that the second batch of 50 ambulances had arrived and is being registered with the last batch of 61 with oxygen plant, arriving in July which will also be deployed to districts.
Award winners for the EMT program included Jonas Acquah, Best Student – Academic and Wonder Kwabla Kponor, Best Student – Practicals.
Christiana Achena Boateng was the Overall Best Student and also the Minister’s Award.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri
