Ambulance Service Operates with Overaged Vehicles

Prof. Ahmed N. Zakariah, CEO of the National Ambulance Service, making statement during the meeting

 

All the 161 ambulances operated by the National Ambulance Service (NAS) are over aged.

The development has compelled officials of the service to raise concerns about their continuous use on the roads.

According to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NAS, Prof. Ahmed Nuhu Zakaria, there were constant breakdowns of the ambulances.

“At any point in time, only about 60 of the ambulances are on the road, with the rest finding their way to workshops due to breakdowns,” he told the Daily Graphic after the opening of the 2017 annual review and management meeting of the service in Accra yesterday.

Prof. Zakaria said the ambulances, which were purchased in 2012, had outlived their life span, a development he feared could work against the service’s aim of meeting its goals.

Government commitment

Fortunately, the CEO said, the current government had demonstrated commitment to strengthen the NAS to the extent that the improvement of the service was captured in the New Patriotic Party’s 2016 election manifesto.

The NAS, established in 2004, is the emergency medical service system of the country dedicated to providing out-of-hospital acute medical care, transport to definitive care and other medical transport to patients with illnesses and injuries which prevent them from transporting themselves.

Inadequate numbers

Prof. Zakaria indicated that Ghana, with a population of over 25 million, needed at least 500 good ambulances to operate an efficient ambulance service.

He advised ambulance drivers to be extra cautious on the road by guarding against speeding.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Prof. Zakaria mentioned the lack of a dedicated source of funding as another problem working against the smooth running of the service. “This, coupled with inadequate funding, impedes smooth operations,” he said.

He also pointed to the non-passage of the NAS Bill as a major hindrance to their activities “since the lack of legislation limits us in so many ways”.

Paralyzed 11-yr-old rape victim cries for justice, medical support

An Eleven-year-old girl who got paralyzed after being allegedly defiled by her school mate’s father, is seeking justice as well as medical support.

Atinka Fm’s Regina Asamoah reported on July 30, 2015 that the victim, who was then a 10-year-old was left bedridden after allegedly being defiled on two occasions by her schoolmate’s father at Anyaa, a suburb of Accra.

The class one pupil of Anyaa D/A Government School was defiled by the man in a bush on 14th and 17th July, 2015 respectively while on her way to school.
The suspect known to the victim as “Jessica Papa” (Jessica’s Father) is said to be an auto- mechanic who lives in the area.

Atinka Fm with support from the Child Protection Unit of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital sought for medical treatment for the victim . After spending months at the hospital, she regained stamina to walk comfortably and was no longer confined to the hospital bed.

The brilliant girl with a promising future was later sponsored by the Daniel Amoateng Foundation and Joselyn Dumas Foundation to go back to school.

However, a year after she was enrolled in a new school, the 11-year-old girl got paralyzed again after falling in school.
Regina Asamoah who visited the victim at the Accident Centre at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital reported that the 11-year-old was in so much pain.

The 11-year-old girl wants the police to find “the rapist and prosecute him.” She further requested to be enrolled in school after being discharged.
She was hopeful that she will leave the hospital and overcome her current predicament as she did the first time around.

Mother of the victim, Dianah Sowah, is passionately appealing to well-meaning Ghanaians to support her pay the medical bills of her daughter as the family is not financially sound to absorb the medical bills.

She is however disappointed in the Ghana Police Service for not being able to arrest the alleged rapist.
It is her fervent hope that the doctors find a lasting solution to the pain her daughter is going through.

Police Investigations

The Anyaa District Police Command on July 20, 2015 confirmed the arrest of the man suspected to have allegedly defiled the 10-year-old class one pupil of Anyaa D/A Government School, rendering her partially paralyzed.

The District Commander, DSP Christian Kpordje in an interaction with Atinka News confirmed that the case was reported on the 20th July, 2015 and an arrest made the same day.

He hinted that that investigation was still on-going as the suspect had denied committing the crime. The police chief said the suspect claimed he was in his shop at the specific times that the alleged incident took place.

According to DSP Christian Kpordje, the victim’s statement had contradictory elements as she claimed at a point that the suspect was the real perpetrator and at another instance said he was not the one.

This he said calls for detailed investigation to establish enough evidence before the suspect is put before court.
In a telephone interaction with Atinka Fm’s Regina Asamoah on Wednesday, Decmeber 28, 2016, DSP Christian Kpordje was of the firm commitment that the rapist will be arrested and prosecuted.

KOFORIDUA NURSING TRAINING NEW LAW

THE UNTOLD BREAKING STORIES

The nursing training college located in Koforidua in the Eastern Region of Ghana is one of the nursing colleges helping in producing quality and efficient nurses into the country. For sometime now, there have been a law by the principal of the school, Mrs Matilda Bansah to punish law offenders by buying pavement blocks for every offends they do.
When Dess Kiddy News investigated the matter, it came to light that the offends of your punishment will determine the number of pavement blocks you will buy and each pavement block cost GH¢1.20pws

This has been a worry for the nursing students of the school for over some time now in silence. This situation is making some students pay money in exchange to punishment as they are not even been paid.
Dess Kiddy News talked to the P.T.A chairman of the school but he locked his mouth not to utter a word about this issue.

Investigation is going on about this matter or situation and what ever comes out, we will let you be the first to know.

Fmr Korle-Bu Boss Argues National Service Is Useless

Former CEO of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Prof. Frimpong Boateng has charged government to cancel the ongoing National Service Scheme and the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) arguing it is rather prudent for technical institutions to be strengthened.

“The National Service should be scrapped and resources channeled into TVET and assisted businesses in distress. It is only technical and vocational training that can propel us to exploit the abundant resources that we have. Another problem that I see is the disgraceful low expenditure on Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) which is 0.9 to 1.5% of the already blown budget of education… it is a serious matter. Also the National Youth Employment Programme which is called GYEEDA and any other politically motivated ineffective interventions should be disbanded and efforts concentrated on training the youth through TVET,” Prof. Boateng argued during a conference of the Commonwealth Association of Polytechnics, Africa in Accra.

The Ghana National Service Scheme has over the years been dented with massive corruption scandals which is reported to have seen government not only change its managerial setup but also prosecute corrupt workers. Meanwhile the scheme provides newly qualified graduates the opportunity to have practical exposure on the job, both in the public and private sectors, as part of their civic responsibility to the State.