The Commissioner for Health, Lagos State, Prof. Akin Abayomi, has decried the many lives lost on Lagos roads due to delays caused by onlookers taking videos instead of assisting first responders.

Represented by the Director of Medical Services, Lagos Health Service Commission, Dr Olawale Adegbite, Abayomi spoke in Lagos at a Symposium for stakeholders to mark the 2025 World Trauma Day with the theme: “Reducing Needless Deaths on Our Roads: Everybody’s Responsibility.”

He urged Lagosians to respect ambulances and prioritise saving lives first before taking videos at the scene of accidents, saying that saving lives on the road was not just the government’s responsibility, but a collective moral and civic duty of every Lagosian.

“Every time we block an ambulance or ignore an emergency call, someone’s parent, spouse, or child could be dying. Trauma care begins with public responsibility,” he said.

He reiterated resolution of the state government to strengthen emergency preparedness and trauma response mechanisms to reduce preventable deaths on Lagos roads.

He said that most trauma cases on Lagos roads were not accidents but preventable incidents caused by human errors.

He stressed that the state’s emergency systems, especially pre-hospital care and ambulance services, have been instrumental In saving lives but require continuous improvement and public cooperation.

Highlighting Lagos’ ongoing investments in emergency medicine, Abayomi noted that most trauma cases brought in by the Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS) recorded higher survival rates compared to those transported by bystanders.

“Proper pre-hospital intervention makes the difference between life and death.

“Continuous staff training and retention were critical to sustaining success in trauma management,” he said.

Earlier, in her opening remarks, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, Dr Kemi Ogunyemi, described trauma as one of the leading causes of preventable deaths and disabilities globally, particularly from road traffic crashes.

Represented by the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Health, Dr Oluwatoni Adeyemi, Ogunyemi noted that Lagos State has made significant progress under the leadership of Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, citing improvements in ambulance coverage, response time, and coordination among first responders.

She said: “We recently launched ten emergency ambulance bikes to ensure faster access to victims in congested areas and also commissioned modular high-dependency units in Ifako and Mushin General Hospitals.

“These interventions are part of our drive to bring critical care closer to communities and reduce delays in life-saving interventions.”

She further emphasised that the theme of this year’s commemoration underscored the fact that reducing trauma-related deaths goes beyond government efforts.

“It requires everyone—drivers, pedestrians, health professionals, civil society, and the media—to play their roles in building a culture of prevention and prompt response,” she said.

In his remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr Olusegun Ogboye, said the story of “Mr Andrew,” a trauma survivor treated at the Lagos State Accident and Emergency Centre (LASAEC), represented the essence of the symposium.

Ogboye recounted how coordinated emergency response and government-backed trauma care saved a man who was left comatose after a crash on the morning of his daughter’s wedding.

He stressed that pre-hospital care was a crucial but often neglected component of healthcare.

He revealed that the Lagos State Government was expanding trauma centers across the state, with new facilities being established in Epe, Eti-Osa, and Badagry corridors in partnership with private sector allies such as Custodian Allied Insurance and Access Bank.

He added that the state’s ambulance service had evolved into a world-class system with well-equipped vehicles serving as mobile intensive care units.

“There’s hardly any equipment you’ll find in advanced ambulance systems that our units don’t have – ventilators, defibrillators, and fully trained emergency technicians. Lagos has come a long way,” he said.

The Permanent Secretary also called for attitudinal change among motorists and the general public, especially in giving ambulances the right of way.

“You move aside for convoys and security vehicles, yet block ambulances carrying lives. That behavior must change. It could be your loved one in that ambulance,” he warned.

In his presentation titled “The Traumatic Story Being Rewritten,” the Medical Director, LASAEC, Dr Adeolu Arogundade, told the true story of Mr Andrew, who was hit by a car and left unconscious for months but survived through state-funded care.

Arogundade said the case epitomised the 41,000 trauma cases successfully treated at LASAEC in the last 15 years, with a commendable mortality rate of just 1.4 per cent .

He lauded the Lagos State Government for sustaining a policy that guarantees free emergency care for all trauma victims within the first 24 hours, emphasising that the policy’s funding—though sometimes delayed—remains vital to saving lives.

“Behind every statistic is a human story. Each percentage represents someone’s father, mother, or friend who lived because a system worked.

“Our success is proof that trauma care is everyone’s business; from road users to rescuers and administrators,” he said.

The Lagos State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr Kehinde Hamzat, underscored the grim reality that most crash-related deaths were avoidable.

Citing WHO data, Hamzat, also a Guest Speaker, said that Africa bore a disproportionate share of the 1.3 million global deaths from road traffic crashes yearly, with Lagos inclusive due to high vehicle density and weak road discipline.

Hamzat warned that unsafe behaviours such as speeding, drunk driving, and disregard for traffic laws remain major culprits, stressing that effective trauma management begins with prevention.

“No matter how advanced our hospitals become, if we don’t change road behaviour, we’ll keep losing lives needlessly.

“Our collective vigilance, compliance, and compassion are what will make our roads safer and our emergency systems more responsive,” he said.

As the symposium ended, participants resolved to deepen inter-agency collaboration, intensify public sensitization, and push for behavioural change campaigns across the state. (NAN)