Edo, ERA partner to revolutionise emergency response

Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has partnered Emergency Response Africa (ERA) to launch a Technology-Enabled Emergency Medical Services Project (FID-EMS), a transformative initiative, to revolutionise emergency healthcare response and boost health insurance enrollment in Edo State.

The Funds for Innovation in Development (FID), a financing mechanism of the French Government, committed to battling poverty and inequality, is the key funder of the project.

The FID-EMS Project, spearheaded by the Edo State government, is a response to Nigeria’s significant emergency healthcare crisis, where 54 per cent of the country’s deaths could be prevented with timely emergency medical response, resulting in over 1.23 million unnecessary fatalities.

The project aims to tackle challenges, such as low public health trust, broken communication channels, and inefficient data collection, among many others.

The primary focus of the FID-EMS Project is to implement a technology-enabled Community-Based First Responder programme in Oredo, Egor, and Ikpoba Okha local councils of Edo State.

Selected community members will be trained as first responders, utilising ERA’s proprietary technology platform for rapid dispatch. Ambulances and hospitals will be aggregated through technology for efficient patient transportation.

The project is expected to drive the enrolment of community members in the Edo Health Insurance Scheme (EDHIS) for financial sustainability. Edo is committed to leading the way as the first state to implement this innovative model as a framework for unlocking access to the Emergency Medical Transport (EMT) gateway.