Pirang Alkalo laments lack of community ambulance for referrals

 In a recent interview with The Point, Morro Sama Bojang said that since the break-down of the old ambulance donated by philanthropists, both the community and surrounding villages are finding it difficult to come to terms especially when referring sick patients to the regional referral hospital in Brikama.

 “Most people now depend on hiring private vehicles to refer their patients for further treatment. This also involved huge financial expenditure.”

He added; “The only community ambulance which used to do referral services for the village and surroundings had since experienced a break-down and this I can tell you was not even provided by the state but instead by philanthropists. One of the challenges we are facing as a community without an ambulance is the financial burden we bear in hiring private vehicles to refer our sick.”

He noted that the saddest part of it is that any time an accident occurred in the village or its surrounding villages, there is always no ambulance to refer the case to Brikama for treatment.

“And if you look from Brikama to Brikama-Ba there is no community bigger than Pirang so it is a settlement that do not only needs an ambulance but a standard major health center. I said this because as a village Alkalo I witnessed how people struggle to make referral of their sick people,” he said

He further stated that non-availability of medical equipment and medicines at the village’s health center has also created an increasing challenge on families. This, he said, is evident as people always complain of non- availability of medicine at the health center.

“I said this because I’m a victim of it.Therewas a day I visited the health center to get medicine for myself but unfortunately I was informed by the nurse-in-charge that such medicine was not available and that I have to go to the pharmacy to buy it.”

This, he added, is not only affecting ‘our health center’ but many in the country.

“I therefore appeal to the government to consider us by providing us with an ambulance as road accidents are very common in the area.” he appealed.