Nigerian emergency response agencies: a call for restructuring and rapid intervention.

In Nigeria, there is still a big deficiency in emergency response, either medical or otherwise, and the government needs to seriously do something. There have been cases of loss of life and property as a result of the lack of facilities and resources needed to perform these services effectively. It is quite disheartening that the country's emergency response is woefully inadequate.

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There are very few firefighters in the country, and these people barely have enough equipment for emergency response. There have been reports of petrol tankers catching fire across the country while transporting petroleum products. The slow response in most cases has led to the loss of so many lives and property. I've heard stories of fire trucks arriving at scenes of fire outbreaks without enough water in the truck to put out the fire. Business owners especially have suffered the consequences of the poor response of these firefighters, as most of them watch helplessly as all their investments go up in flames due to the untimely intervention of the firefighters.

I've witnessed firsthand the lack of timely response by fire trucks during my university days when a room in the hostel was in flames due to an electrical fault. It took the initiative of the students to put out the fire since the truck was not yet coming; it later arrived after everything had been put out by the students.

Our medical sector has also faced challenges when it comes to emergency response due to insufficient facilities and equipment, a lack of adequate personnel, and certain laws that used to be in place, though these laws have been amended recently. There have been cases of medical emergencies that led to loss of life that could have been prevented if only the resources and facilities were in place. Very few hospitals in the country have a good ambulance in cases of emergency or when a patient needs to be transferred to another hospital. In most cases of referral, the patient's family is usually the one that handles the transportation, which is usually not safe for the patient.

Two months ago, my brother, his wife, and his five-month-old baby were involved in an accident. The hospital they were taken to referred them to an orthopaedic hospital because they had broken legs and arms. My mom had to look for a means of transporting them from the specialist hospital to the orthopaedic hospital because there was no ambulance available to transport them.

About two years ago, before the amendment of the constitution in regards to medical emergencies, two young university students who were victims of an accident lost their lives because the hospital they were rushed to refused to administer any treatment because there was no police report, which was then a requirement before administering treatment to any victims of gunshots or accidents. After going back and forth, the hospital referred them to the state specialist hospital without administering any treatment.

A similar case happened a few years ago, when a Corp member who was shot while on transit was rushed to a hospital. The lady didn't survive the gunshot because the hospital in question didn't have the equipment needed to administer treatment to a gunshot patient, and it was a government hospital, sadly.

Our government needs to really address the problems faced by emergency response agencies in the country by equipping these hospitals and other emergency agencies with the resources needed for the smooth running of these agencies to minimise the loss of lives and properties that could be prevented. More awareness about emergency responses should be taught in schools and workplaces by educating people about fire safety measures and the importance of timely medical intervention.

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