Assinie-Mafia, a small town located about a hundred kilometers east of Abidjan, is isolated from the rest of Côte d’Ivoire by a lagoon. This situation makes it difficult to access emergency care for the inhabitants of 16 villages bordering this lagoon. Hippolyte Ebagnitchie, the mayor of Assinie-Mafia, decided to find a solution to this problem, by commissioning the first ambulance boat in Côte d’Ivoire at the beginning of June.
Financed entirely by the town hall at approximately 50 million CFA francs (76,000 euros) and manufactured in the country, this ambulance boat is equipped to transport four patients, several doctors and relatives of the sick, with all the medical equipment required to save Lives.
The ambulance boat is a real necessity, because before it was put into service, the inhabitants of isolated villages were obliged to reach the health centers by canoe. This solution was expensive and unsuitable in the event of an emergency requiring rapid patient care. “During the journey, there could be dramatic situations, such as a seriously injured patient who bled to death,” recalls Athanase Anné Assalé, one of the two doctors in the town.
The ambulance boat is equipped with all the necessary life-saving equipment, including oxygen, a defibrillator and heart monitors. It will therefore be able to take care of all the emergencies necessary for the 25,000 inhabitants of Assinie-Mafia.
In addition to saving lives, the ambulance boat will improve access to care for many women in Assinie who regularly give birth in canoes. The objective is to ensure that this boat is a useful tool for the local population, and the town hall did not wish to charge for the service rendered.
The solution developed by Mayor Hippolyte Ebagnitchie and his team is an emblematic example of the ability of local solutions to solve local problems. The ambulance boat is an essential tool to save lives and allow access to health care in landlocked and isolated areas