The family of a seriously ailing boy had to go through a very distressing process just to get their son to the hospital, from their hard-to-reach community in the Volta Region.
Narrating how this came to be, a Facebook user with the name Gati Promise, explained that he was on his way to Ho, the capital of the region, when he encountered the situation.
He added that at a point, they chanced on some people frantically standing by the roadside with a ‘critically-ill boy.’
He said that their car was immediately stopped to allow them in and out of curiosity, he asked them what the challenge was.
“I was traveling to Ho this morning and then got to Ziope Clinic there was this woman with a critically ill boy and the Nurses.
“They stopped the car in which I was for the woman and her son to join the car, I quickly asked the nurse why can’t they call the Ambulance Service to come and pick up the boy at the Hospital,” he said.
Gati Promise continued that the nurse with the family then confirmed to him that they had had trouble getting an ambulance to convey the ailing boy.
He added that they then decided that, perhaps, while on the way, they would meet up with the ambulance and transfer the family into it, but what they found out instead was a shocking one.
He stressed that an officer of the Ambulance Service told him that they had to go through protocol to be able to access the ambulance.
“The nurse confirmed to me that they called them and they promised to come but they don’t know what is keeping them.
“So, we decided to pick up the boy and the mother with the sense that we will meet the ambulance on the way and handover to them.
“We drove to Kpetoe and found out that the ambulance was at the station, I went to the station and met Mr. Dogbey, I narrated the whole story to him and asked him to pick up the boy with the ambulance to Ho but to my surprise, Mr. Dogbey told me he can’t pick up the boy. When I called the regional office, they told me I have to go through protocol,” he narrated.
The narrator also explained that after further investigations from the nurses at the Ziope health facility, he came to the understanding that that terrain was common.
He added that the nurses told him that due to this attitude and behaviour of the Ghana National Ambulance Service, lives had been lost.
“I quickly called the nurses at Ziope Clinic to find out if they called the ambulance service or not, and they confirmed to me that this is not the first time this is happening, they lost lives because of delays and refusal of service from the ambulance service, hmmm. I pray that nothing happens to this boy,” he added.