Air Ambulance Service Partners Commercial Airline in Nigeria.

Air Ambulance Service Partners Commercial Airline in Nigeria.

A recent survey conducted by Ngozi Okonji-Iweala (NOI) polls revealed that only 20 per cent of Nigerians have access to health insurance and only a tiny fraction of that percentage have access to medical air transport or air ambulance services.

However, the Emergency Transport Unit (ETU) service is changing that forever. The ETU service aims at reducing the cost of air ambulance services in Nigeria to that of road ambulance services through a new innovation. The ETU is a removable medical cabin built into a commercial flight which conveys patients around Nigeria and West Africa as low as 10 per cent of the price for a full air ambulance for the first time ever. This advanced technique was designed to save more lives across Nigeria and West Africa.

Air Ambulances play an essential role in emergency health care all over the world by saving lives with high efficiency. They are even more important in Nigeria and across Africa as there are often long distances between rural and urban areas making rapid transport indispensable when it comes to saving lives.

In the developed world, the nearest specialist medical centre maybe in the next county, while in Africa, it may be in another country. Therefore, getting to a specialist in Africa is far easier and efficient by air. The air ambulances therefore help circumvent seasonal, hazardous roads by providing an all season and safe alternative.

Public emergency services are a norm in all developed countries. These services operate efficiently, often part-funded by government. In Nigeria today, widespread government funded emergency services are not optimal.  Therefore, victims of medical emergencies remain stranded for long and deteriorate, creating a greater number of patients that need specialist care. The ETU service therefore, is positioned to provide an essential service to thousands of patients across West Africa.

Credit: This Day