Management of the Eastern Regional Hospital in Koforidua has condemned Thursday’s robbery attack on the Somanya Ambulance which was transporting a pregnant woman from the Akuse Government Hospital to the Regional Hospital.
Management of the hospital who called on authorities to ensure the safety of roads for travellers at night have offered to render free psychological treatment and support for victims and family members of last Thursday’s robbery.
Speaking to Citi News about the state of the pregnant woman who was attacked together with some emergency medical workers during the robbery incident at Aseseeso which led to the death of Abraham Tetteh, the Medical Superintendent of the Eastern Regional Hospital, Dr Akoto Ampaw, disclosed that the hospital will offer free psychological treatment for all victims of the robbery and their families to help them recover from the trauma.
“The pregnant woman in question arrived at the facility with the baby in the uterus, and we were able to deliver the mother and baby successfully who are all doing fine. Initially, we sent the baby to the NICU [Newborn Intensive Care Unit] where the assessment was done, and we got to know that the baby was stable enough hence we had to reunite the baby with the mother which we are all happy about. We immediately ordered that the mother should have some form of psychological support because of the traumatic nature in which her transport was from the Akuse Government Hospital to the Eastern Regional Hospital.”
He added that: “with respect to the incident itself, it is very unacceptable and as a nation, we must condemn it outrightly, it is really painful, and I wonder why as a country we have stood low to allow an ambulance to be robbed. Following the description of the harrowing incident and listening to the victims speak, you can feel that they have really been traumatized psychologically and the Eastern Regional Hospital is offering to provide free psychological treatment and support for all the victims of the robbery especially the technician that survived, her family and the wife and family of the late driver.”
Dr. Akoto Ampaw also advised various health facilities in the region to be considerate in their referral of cases to the regional capital.
“Hospitals should be considerate enough in their referrals. I want to believe that no hospital will just want to refer for referral sake but as much as possible let us be considerate in our referrals. If referrals are bound to happen let it happen as soon as possible so that we can avoid transportation at night when we know that our roads are not safe.”
“I support the call for armed service personnel for the emergency medical workers. Maybe in the immediate term, that is the way to go, but subsequently, we must ensure that our society is safe for all because how long can we give police protection to emergency medical workers, so I believe we should try as much as possible to make the society and our roads safe for all to feel comfortable and safe when travelling at night.”
