It’s over the weekends that we hear the most appeals for an ambulance to attend to a road accident. The good Samaritans who have stopped to help usually struggle to get an ambulance to attend. The inevitable sad outcome illustrates the poor state of post-crash response across Zimbabwe.
I can talk with the benefit of attending an event on Friday, 21 May, 2021, organised by the Road Safe Zimbabwe Trust. https://www.facebook.com/Road-Safe-Zimbabwe The Operations Director of Ace Air & Ambulance (Pvt) Ltd presented on post-crash response. Some of the key points:
- Due to an under-resourced local government, the burden for post-crash response has fallen on the private sector.
- The private service providers do not have the resources to service all of Harare and the rest of the country.
- An ambulance is not a “kombi” with a red light providing transport. The service provider will have to provide medical equipment and personnel, all which come at a cost.
There is good news for Zimbabwean’s looking for post-crash assistance, or indeed any medical emergency support. Ace Air & Ambulance has introduced Emergency Medical Rescue Membership Packages which include:
- Basic: Road Ambulance, country wide 24 hours – Cost US$ 1.00 p.p.p.m.*
- Intermediate: Road Ambulance & Helicopter Rescue, country wide, 24/7 – Cost US$ 3.50 p.p.p.m.*
- Advanced: Road Ambulance, Air Ambulance, Helicopter Rescue and Emergency Call Centre, country wide 24/7 – Cost US$ 5.00 p.p.p.m.*
* Per person per month (For effective administration the minimum period is 6 months).
We believe all these Membership Packages are amazingly affordable and provide effective post-crash and medical emergency response throughout Zimbabwe.
Effective post-crash response is one of the five key pillars of the United Nations Global Road Safety Management. https://www.un.org/en/safety-and-security/road-safety
Sadly, the lack of effective post-crash response is a major contributor to Zimbabwe’s high fatality rate from road accidents.
We encourage our community to take advantage of this opportunity to become self-reliant, by visiting Big Sky Supplies where our staff will assist with your application and arrange your Emergency Medical Rescue Membership Card. For more information visit https://www.ace-ambulance.com/, see our flyers in-store or email info@bigsky.co.zw.
Safe journeys,
Sean Quinlan
CEO, Big Sky Supplies
PS: We previously covered the issue of medical air evacuation out of Zimbabwe, in July 2020. Read more here https://bigsky.co.zw/how-medical-air-evacuation-works-in-zimbabwe/
