Lagos to acquire Air Ambulance as LASUTH opens helipad
The Lagos State Government has achieved another milestone in health care delivery, with the commissioning of the first state-owned hospital helipad.
The helipad was commissioned, on Thursday, by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode. Present at the event which held at (LASUTH) premises in Ikeja, were medical experts, stakeholders and top government functionaries.
According to the governor, LASUTH being the flagship medical facility in the state had made giant strides in recent times and should be commended for its achievement so far. He said barely a month ago, a 27-bed Critical Care Unit, CTU, was commissioned in the hospital to provide life/organ support system for critically ill patients who required intensive monitoring and post-operative treatment.
According to the governor, “Today, we are commissioning a Helipad to facilitate medical evacuation and air ambulance transfer of patients to Trauma Centers. The provision of these facilities is consistent with our commitment to raise the service delivery capacity of LASUTH and other Lagos State health facilities to international standards to save the lives of our people.
“This Helipad being commissioned today is a lifesaving asset and critical complement to the efficient functioning of this Unit and other emergency services being rendered by the State. The Helipad will also aid the movement of patients from remote areas where healthcare facilities to provide the level of emergency medicine required are not readily available.”
Governor Ambode said over the years, Lagos had witnessed emergency situations which required timely movement of victims to appropriate medical facilities. He said it is a known fact that every minute mattered in securing lives of people involved in these incidents, and that the usual movement by road was not the best option in such situations. He was of the opinion that helicopters had therefore become an efficient and reliable option which could only be made possible with the availability of helipads within the hospital environment.
