Hiiraan Online

Since the collapse of Somalia's central government in 1991, private organisations and charities in Mogadishu have sought to fill the gap left in the provision of health assistance.

Amin Ambulance Service (AAS) was founded in 2008 to provide emergency transportation. Its founder and current United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) humanitarian affairs analyst, Mohamed Farah, and its executive director, Dr. Abdulkadir Abdirahman Adem, tell Think Africa Press more about the extraordinary experience of running an ambulance service in Somalia's turbulent capital.

Foundation

“Amin Ambulance Service started in 2008 with contributions from the founders, businessmen and private companies. Then we managed to get some funds from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and received supplies from the World Health Organisation three times. We have 12 paramedics, 8 drivers, operators, a fleet manager, and an administrator,” says co-founder Mohamed Farah.



The most common injuries

Dr. Abdulkadir Abdirahman Adem, AAS executive director, says: “We take patients from the IDP camps suffering from diarrhea, malaria, measles, pneumonia, whooping cough, and mothers in labour. The number of people injured by bullet or mortar-shelling has decreased after the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) backed by the African Union Mission in Somalia took control of the city in August 2011.“

October 4 explosion

“A Somali woman is trying to cool down burned bodies. On October 4, 2011 a truck loaded with drums of fuel exploded outside the compound of several TFG ministries in Mogadishu KM4 square,” says Abdulkadir Abdirahman Adem.

“70 people died and more than 150 were injured. AAS rushed to the scene and provided emergency services,” continues Abdulkadir Abdirahman Adem, “[the picture shows] wounded people rushed into the ambulance and transported to the nearest health facilities for better treatment”.

Equipment

“In every vehicle we have a first aid kit, oxygen supply, cardiac resuscitation and direct current shock. The ventilation and the lights of the vehicles work properly. We have a hotline where we receive calls from everywhere in the city and its corridor. The line is provided by a private telecommunication company,” says Abdulkadir Abdirahman Adem.

Wishes

The director continues:
 “AAS would like to get regular training for its paramedics and fleet management, and [funds to provide] salaries for the staff. Now they are working on a voluntary basis. They receive some money as stipend, but not regularly."

"[We would also like to have] walkie-talkies and radios because we have difficulties in using private mobile networks,” says Abdulkadir Abdirahman Adem.