The National Ambulance Service (NAS) has commenced a 24-hour engineering operation to restore grounded ambulances and improve the availability of emergency response vehicles across the country.
The initiative, dubbed “Operation Restore Fleet,” follows concerns raised about the state of some ambulances and is aimed at reducing vehicle downtime and clearing unserviceable vehicles from the Service’s central workshop.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, September 22, the NAS said engineers and technicians were working around the clock to repair ambulances that had developed major faults after six years of continuous operation across the country.
The Service said ambulances that are beyond economic repair would be permanently cleared and evacuated from the workshop to decongest the facility and create space for faster repairs.
Chief Executive Officer of the NAS, Dr (Med) George Kojo Owusu, said the operation was intended to drastically reduce vehicle downtime and ensure that every serviceable ambulance was returned to the road.
He said the 307 ambulances procured in 2020 under the one-ambulance-per-constituency initiative had been operating continuously on difficult terrains for more than six years, resulting in the need for major repairs, specialised Mercedes-Benz parts and assessments following accidents.
Dr Owusu said Management was also engaging two additional qualified auto mechanics to support the existing workshop staff, who he said were currently few relative to the volume of work.
He added that the NAS had engaged the Ministry of Health with a comprehensive plan for sustainable spare parts procurement and the establishment of regional maintenance capacity to prevent the future accumulation of grounded ambulances.
Dr Owusu assured the public that despite the challenges, all 16 regions remained operational at varying levels and continued to respond to emergency cases through the 112 emergency line.
“Our commitment remains unchanged: timely care saves lives. We are not at rest; we are at work to ensure that when Ghanaians call 112, help will come,” he said.
The NAS expects Operation Restore Fleet to be completed within the coming weeks and said regular updates would be provided to the public.
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