Boniface Okoro, Umuahia

Five days after a ghastly motor accident along the Umuahia axis of the Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway that killed 15 persons, the Abia State government has procured four ambulances for quick rescue response and evacuation of accident victims within the state..

Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, while presenting the vehicles to the Abia State Passengers Integrated Manifest Scheme (ASPIMS) which would manage the ambulances, hinted that early rescue of crash victims would help to save more lives in times of mishaps.

“Emergency care is critical to those in need of healthcare, especially accident victims and victims of other mishaps,” Ikpeazu said, adding: “Our ability to respond quickly is a way of saving lives.”

According to him, the procurement of the ambulances was a response to the highway crash that claimed many lives within the Umuahia capital territory recently.

The governor disclosed that the State Government intends to buy 12 ambulances which would be used to patrol the highways and positioned at major junctions in the cities.

Ikpeazu said that Abia was collaborating with medical experts from the United States to train some Abia nurses on how to handle emergencies.

He, therefore, charged those who would manage the facilities to show great commitment and diligence in discharging their duties, assuring that government would sustain its efforts to improve healthcare delivery in the state.

Receiving the keys to the vehicles, the General Manager of ASPIMS, Mr Kingsley Megwara, assured that the ambulances would be put to effective use and properly maintained.

“We are very happy to receive these vehicles. They will help us to save lives and respond quickly to accidents. We will use it effectively,” Megwara said. He said their services would last from 6am - 8pm for the meantime, until the agency introduces a 24-hour service and enjoined Abians to reach ASPIMS on the line 717, in case of accidents and other emergencies that would require quick evacuation of victims.

The handover ceremony took place at Government House, Umuahia last Friday.

News Express recalls that penultimate Sunday, a fatal auto crash which occurred along Ofeme axis of the Enugu-Aba-Port Harcourt expressway claimed 15 lives and observers were of the opinion that if there were ambulances on hand, more lives would have been saved.