New ambulances for improved emergency health services |17 May 2013

A gift from the People’s Republic of China worth R4,823,306, the five Yutong ambulances were handed over to Health Minister Mitcy Larue during a ceremony at the Seychelles Hospital yesterday morning.

Present to witness the signing and exchange of the certificates of acceptance between Minister Larue and Chinese ambassador to Seychelles Shi Zhongjun and the handing over of the new vehicles were the Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Paul Adam, health principal secretary Dr Jude Gedeon, World Health Organisation liaison officer to Seychelles Dr Cornelia Atsyor, health management team members and other health officials.

Roman Catholic priest Father Roger De Commarmond blessed the vehicles and the people who will use them to help save the lives of our sick citizens who would need urgent medical attention.
After accepting the keys to the ambulances from Mr Shi, Minister Larue and ambassador Shi inspected  the ambulances.

Speaking before handing over the keys to Minister Larue, Mr Shi expressed his joy that the ambulances have arrived in Seychelles after being in close contact with the supplier to ensure the vehicles meet the needs and conditions of Seychelles.

He said the new addition will surely help the health ministry to further improve its ambulance service to the different communities.

Mr Shi said the gesture once again highlights the close relation and cooperation between Seychelles and the People’s Republic of China in various fields, including health care.
“At present we have a medical team of six doctors and 14 volunteers working in different hospitals here,” Mr Shi noted.

He pointed out that several Seychellois follow courses in different fields in China annually. He added that this donation of ambulances will be followed in the near future by other donations including medical equipment.

“All this shows the friendship between Seychelles and China and that the Chinese government will continue to cooperate with the Seychelles government and help the Ministry of Health,” said Mr Shi.

Expressing her gratitude to the Chinese people on behalf of the government and people of Seychelles for the generous gift, Minister Larue noted that “responding to emergency is a priority for her ministry and emergency preparedness is paramount to what we do in terms of saving lives and responding to accident s and other emergencies.”
She said this generous gift will strengthen our emergency services.

“Our emergency preparedness and response strategy highlights the importance of being able to reach those in need not only in the shortest possible time but also to bring them the first care they require  and the five ambulances will no doubt help us achieve this,” said Minister Larue.

She further noted that the ambulances are equipped with the basic equipment required to provide the best first care to people in emergency including oxygen bottles and suction machines.
“The ambulances are a welcome addition to our existing fleet as they will enable us to increase services to areas with increasing demands and allow us to replace older vehicles in the service,” said the minister.

Daniel Baccus, Seychelles Hospital transport manager, said one of the ambulances will be based at the new Anse Royale hospital, one at the Beau Vallon health centre and the remaining three at the Seychelles Hospital as older ones will be gradually removed from the fleet.

He further added that at present Praslin and La Digue are well equipped to provide ambulance services –Praslin has two ambulances while La Digue has one and they are all in very good condition.