The Management of National Ambulance Service (NAS), in collaboration with the University of Florida and the USAID, has introduced MotoMeds to enhance healthcare at night.
MotoMeds is a free paediatric telemedicine and medication delivery service designed to prevent pre-emergent illnesses from transitioning into emergencies at night, when children are most vulnerable and isolated.
Addressing a news conference in Accra yesterday, the Chief Executive Officer of NAS, Prof. Ahmed, applauded the University of Florida for embarking on this project and also for all the benefits Ghana has derived from the university.
He further extended appreciation to the USAID, which supported the execution of the project and assured that the MotoMeds has come to stay and save Ghana.
The Associate Professor at the University of Florida and overseer of the MotoMeds, Prof. Torben Becker, who delivered the keynote address, revealed that telemedicine has been designed to “overcome barriers to seeking healthcare for children up to and including the ages of 10 years”
According to Prof. Becker, the project, which primarily focuses on children,does not aim to replace the existing healthcare infrastructure, but fill a critical need at night when other care options are limited.
The telemedicine, which is currently limited to Jamestown and Usshertown communities has helped over 300 children since November, last year, he disclosed.
With how it works, he said “when a child gets sick at night, their parents or guardian calls the dedicated MotoMeds hotline. Our specially trained NAS Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) will conduct a telemedicine assessment over the phone to develop an initial patient assessment, then one of the EMTs are sent out to deliver the medication to the child”
He stated that after the nighttime visit, they will call the family within ten days to see how the child is doing.
The representative of USAID-Ghana, Gladys Tetteh Yeboah, noted that MotoMed provides services to paediatric illness, which includes malaria, respiratory illness and diarrhoea, all of which are major causes of mortality for children under age five.
In addition to providing emergency services, she added that MotoMeds built in an evaluation component, which will help inform a potential scale up of the initiative to other geographic areas.
This evaluation, she said, will be used to improve emergency services in Ghana.
