New plan to rescue crash survivors
Health facilities to be built on major highway. PHOTO|FILE
Dar es Salaam. The ministry of Health will in October start the construction of seven emergency medical care facilities from Dar es Salaam to Ruaha in Iringa to treat people who sustain injuries in road crashes, and others patients who need emergency care before reaching major hospitals.
The Sh11 billion project, which is supported by the World Bank aims to develop a model of prehospital Emergence Medical Service (EMS) system under the Southern Africa Trade and Transport Facilitation Project (SATTFP).
The seven health facilities will be constructed at Kimara in Dar es Salaam Region, Tumbi Referral Hospital in Coast Region, Chalinze, Mikese, Morogoro Referral Hospital, Mikumi and Ruaha.
The assistant director of Emergency Preparedness and Response Section from the ministry of health, Dr Elias Kwesi said the implementation of the project follows a thorough assessment conducted to identify dangerous areas for road crashes along Dar es Salaam – Mbeya road, near the Malawi boarder.
He said during the launching of EMS guidebook at the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (Muhas) that the pilot project will involve construction of seven EMS that will provide prehospital care for all trauma and non-trauma patients along the southern corridor. He said the project will reduce deaths and psychological effects associated with acute physical injuries and illnesses.
The project will be implemented under the supervision of the Tanzania National Road Agency (Tanroads). The WB has injected Sh7.9 billion loan as capital investment while the government of Tanzania has promised to release Sh2.5 billion to carter for the running costs of the project..
According to WHO, road traffic accidents deaths in Tanzania reached 17,840 or 4.78 per cent of total deaths.
Muhas’ Head of Emergency Medicine Training Dr Henry Sawe said some 519 health care providers have been trained for the project.
The EMS training was officially launched on November 13, 2018 and ended yesterday and the trainees were awarded Certificates ahead of the implementation of the EMS project.
