Ambulance not on the Road: A Disgrace to Health Care for Buluk

Joyce Bumbom (S. N. O. ; PERI-OP) and Rockson Felix Ayantoya (Senior Anaesthetist):

Ambulance not on the Road: A Disgrace to Health Care for Buluk

A sick woman was transferred from Kanjaga to Sandema hospital (about 40 km distance).

A pregnant woman is referred from Wiesi about 45 km away from Sandema.

In recent times it has become apparent that increasing health system pressures cannot be resolved only by adding resources, but, must also be addressed with new methods of service delivery. The ambulance service is ideally placed to be part of the first line in the continuum of health care and can significantly contribute to treat and transfer.
This is not the case in Builsa District as it has been operating without ambulance since 2010 due to the breakdown of the vehicle. It is very sad and pathetic to see a pregnant woman being transported to the nearest health facility on a motorbike and when lucky that she will be brought in a tricycle. A woman will deliver and either the woman or the new born baby may be in a critical condition and may need further management but getting means to the next higher facility becomes a nightmare. Accidents occur and how to convey injured people to a health facility is a great challenge.
The Sandema hospital is the only referral facility in Buluk which serves a population of about 110,724. The hospital occasionally refers patients to the regional and the teaching hospitals for specialist and consultancy management, the facility is forced to rely on some private ambulance providers for referral of patients because of the lack of a government ambulance in the region. These private ambulances leave patients stuck in the middle with charges that are not negotiated.
An ambulance is a vehicle which can transport medical patients to treatment and in some instances will also provide out–of–hospital medical care to the patient. They are used to respond to emergencies by the emergency medical services.
Below are the summary of the referrals and the charges by the private ambulances respectively:

REFERRALS

Referrals	2016	2017	2018
Referred In	578	1205	879
Referred Out	135	146	333

AMBULANCE CHARGES IN GHANA CEDIS AS AT JANUARY 2019

From Sandema	Without Oxygen Service	With Oxygen Service
To Tamale	1200.00	1300.00
To Kumasi	2500.00	2600.00
To Accra	3000.00	3000.00

In conclusion, it is obvious that the panacea to the aforementioned challenges is to secure an ambulance for the people of Buluk. We want to use this opportunity to call on philanthropists, donors and other concerned citizens to relieve us from these difficulties.