Such waits can be deadly and are not unusual in the mega-city, where notorious traffic jams snarl commutes and only about 100 ambulances serve a population of more than 20 million.
"It's a serious problem, we waited far too long," Hunsa, 25, told AFP. Her mother, suffering a cerebral haemorrhage, ultimately survived the ordeal.
Political and business big-wigs regularly bust through traffic in the largest city in west Africa with armed convoys and flashing lights -- despite not being in any actual emergency.
Ambulances blast sirens, take shortcuts and speed as fast as they can -- but sometimes to no avail.
Cruxifux - 3mon
That’s like half as many people as there are in all of Canada.
1
philpo @feddit.org - 3mon
Funny, I had a long interview with someone from Nigeria (different state, though) about their ambulance system (doing research - I currently write my thesis in this field and frequently consult on African ambulance service systems)
Generally we "Northerners" overestimate the effect ambulances have on the survival of a patient and underestimate the amount of "systemic prerequisites" it takes for an ambulance system.
What does that mean? When no or little ambulance system exists, patients do still get transported, but by different means of transport, e.g. taxi, public transport (yes,that is a thing and I personally sat in a mini bus once that had a very unconscious lady chucked in along it's route... Funny enough it turned out that half the passengers were medical personnel), private transport, police,etc.
This means that a lot of patients still get transported reasonably fast.
Sure, a few people will die that wouldn't otherwise die - they would benefit from advanced life support, couldn't arrange transport due to availability (that's more an issue of rural communities) or cost,etc.
A few people will suffer more as well.
But in the end a lot of people will arrive at the hospital alive or - might even be better off. Because for a lot of conditions (including intracerebral bleeding) the only way to heal is cold bloody steel - it's better to be faster in the hospital overall sometimes.
That sometimes leads to the contradiction that a bad ambulance system is worse for overall survival than no ambulance system.
Now, the other side is the "system".
You need a central dispatch number that sends the next ambulance and maybe even triages calls.
You need ambulances that can make a difference - not just two drivers with a stretcher.
You need a street and streetnumber system to locate the patient.
You need equipment to use the skills of your staff.
You need infrastructure to get to the patient, as mentioned roads.
You need an E.D. to receive the patient and a hospital that can threat these patients. It doesn't help a bit if the ambulance service tubes a patient and then the hospital has no neurosurgeon on call at night.
Only when these factors all work together we can finally save these "maybe" cases. Lagos has a lot of good initiatives (LRU being a good example) but also a long way to go.
throws_lemy in publichealth
In mega-city Lagos, 20 million count on just 100 ambulances
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250916-in-mega-city-lagos-20-million-count-on-just-100-ambulancesThat’s like half as many people as there are in all of Canada.
Funny, I had a long interview with someone from Nigeria (different state, though) about their ambulance system (doing research - I currently write my thesis in this field and frequently consult on African ambulance service systems)
Generally we "Northerners" overestimate the effect ambulances have on the survival of a patient and underestimate the amount of "systemic prerequisites" it takes for an ambulance system.
What does that mean? When no or little ambulance system exists, patients do still get transported, but by different means of transport, e.g. taxi, public transport (yes,that is a thing and I personally sat in a mini bus once that had a very unconscious lady chucked in along it's route... Funny enough it turned out that half the passengers were medical personnel), private transport, police,etc. This means that a lot of patients still get transported reasonably fast.
Sure, a few people will die that wouldn't otherwise die - they would benefit from advanced life support, couldn't arrange transport due to availability (that's more an issue of rural communities) or cost,etc. A few people will suffer more as well. But in the end a lot of people will arrive at the hospital alive or - might even be better off. Because for a lot of conditions (including intracerebral bleeding) the only way to heal is cold bloody steel - it's better to be faster in the hospital overall sometimes. That sometimes leads to the contradiction that a bad ambulance system is worse for overall survival than no ambulance system.
Now, the other side is the "system".
You need a central dispatch number that sends the next ambulance and maybe even triages calls.
You need ambulances that can make a difference - not just two drivers with a stretcher.
You need a street and streetnumber system to locate the patient.
You need equipment to use the skills of your staff.
You need infrastructure to get to the patient, as mentioned roads.
You need an E.D. to receive the patient and a hospital that can threat these patients. It doesn't help a bit if the ambulance service tubes a patient and then the hospital has no neurosurgeon on call at night.
Only when these factors all work together we can finally save these "maybe" cases. Lagos has a lot of good initiatives (LRU being a good example) but also a long way to go.