Nigeria’s Riyom hospital granted National Trauma Centre status
Nigeria’s federal government has granted the general hospital in Riyom, Plateau State, National Trauma Centre status and handed over 15 emergency medical vehicles to the state. The facility will operate as a unit of the Jos University Teaching Hospital. The decision was announced during the launch of the National Emergency Medical Services and Ambulance System, NEMSAS, in Riyom, Premium Times Nigeria reports.
Transport for hospitals and communities
The package includes five conventional ambulances and 10 three-wheeled medical transport vehicles for rural and hard-to-reach communities. The five ambulances are planned to be distributed among the Jos University Teaching Hospital, the National Orthopaedic Hospital in Jos, the Federal Medical Centre in Wase, the Plateau State Specialist Hospital, and the National Trauma Centre in Riyom.
The 10 three-wheeled vehicles will be used for emergency transportation of patients in remote communities. Kachollom Daju, Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, stated that all transferred vehicles would be used exclusively for emergency medical care under the various NEMSAS components.
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Free care
According to Daju, the Plateau State Emergency Medical Services and Ambulance System, PLASEMSAS, will provide free transportation for patients within the state. The federal mechanism for specialized medical facilities provides free emergency treatment for vulnerable patients for up to 48 hours. The REST-M component is intended for the emergency transportation of pregnant women and newborns in rural areas.
Pokop Bupwatda, Chief Medical Director of the Jos University Teaching Hospital, promised round-the-clock operation of emergency services at the hospital. Plateau State Commissioner for Health Nicholas Baamlong said that over six months, the rural patient transport programme carried out more than 2,000 emergency transfers, including 1,115 in Jos East and more than 900 in Riyom. He also reported that the maternal mortality rate in the state had fallen from 905 to about 500 cases per 100,000 live births.
