Nigeria’s growing population and vast geographical spread are making road-based emergency medical response increasingly inadequate, with a medical expert calling for the deployment of dedicated ambulance helicopters to provide rapid access to critical care.
The Medical Director of Kasi Healthcare, Dr Dayo Osholowu, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Sunday, stressing that Nigeria currently does not operate a dedicated purpose-built domestic ambulance helicopter.
Osholowu, an emergency medicine expert, said air medical transport should be regarded as essential survival infrastructure rather than a service reserved for wealthy individuals and corporations.
“Air medical transport is not a luxury asset for a privileged few; it is fundamental survival infrastructure,” he said.
He said Nigeria’s projected growth toward becoming one of the world’s most populous countries made it unsustainable to depend solely on hospital beds and road-based emergency response.
According to him, the country needs a “ready-to-launch at a moment’s notice” air medical emergency system capable of responding to emergencies across its vast territory.
Osholowu said response times for air medical evacuations from remote communities and offshore oil rigs in Nigeria could range from one hour to as long as 48 hours, far above the global benchmark of about 10 to 15 minutes.
“In emergency medicine, we measure human survival against an unforgiving clock: the golden hour.
“Across Nigeria, that hour is routinely erased by distance,” he said.
The medical expert said critical evacuation requests from Nigeria often required aircraft to be deployed from Nairobi, Casablanca or Cape Verde, resulting in lengthy delays before patients could receive specialised care.
“By the time cross-border flight clearances are secured, crews assembled and fuel uploaded, four to six hours have slipped away under optimal conditions.
“Often, bureaucratic delays stretch that waiting into two agonising days. In medicine, a two-day delay is not a response time; it is a tragedy,” he said.
Osholowu said Nigeria’s air medical operations had historically focused more on secondary and pre-scheduled inter-facility transfers than on rapid, primary life-saving interventions.
He attributed the delays largely to systemic challenges, including slow aviation clearances, rigid flight-slot allocations and the absence of round-the-clock operational capacity at some regional airfields.
He also identified the shortage of certified hospital helipads as a major obstacle to effective aeromedical response.
According to him, when helicopters are forced to land at commercial airports rather than directly at hospitals, patients often require another transfer by road ambulance, further consuming critical time.
Osholowu, however, noted that Lagos State had developed a decentralised emergency response model through the Lagos State Emergency Medical Services (LASAMBUS), with more than 30 ambulance points connected to the 112 emergency dispatch network and trauma centres.
He said the state-level model was being linked to a broader national framework through the Federal Ministry of Health’s Sector-Wide Approach Office and the National Emergency Medical Services and Ambulance System.
“We are actively building an Integrated National Ground-to-Air System by connecting pioneer ground operators such as LASAMBUS with regional Helicopter Emergency Medical Services fleets and guaranteeing 48-hour emergency funding through the Basic Health Care Provision Fund.
“We are ensuring that when an aircraft lands, a pre-notified, fully-funded and equipped medical chain is waiting on the tarmac to save a life,” he said.
On the cost of operating air ambulances, Osholowu acknowledged that the service was expensive, citing mobilisation charges, specialised intensive-care equipment, aviation fuel and overseas maintenance as major cost drivers.
He said high out-of-pocket healthcare spending and low insurance coverage had historically restricted access to air ambulance services, making them largely available to major energy companies and wealthy Nigerians.
Osholowu argued that Nigeria could overcome some of its infrastructure limitations by adopting an integrated aeromedical network.
“Just as our nation leapfrogged telecommunication landlines by adopting GSM, an integrated aeromedical network allows us to leapfrog physical infrastructure deficits,” he said.
He described aeromedical capability as “sovereign mobile infrastructure” and urged the country to develop the system before major emergencies expose its weaknesses.
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NAN recalls that Kasi Healthcare and Airbus Helicopters recently signed an agreement for the procurement of up to two Airbus H135 helicopters for emergency medical services.
The aircraft are expected to be delivered to Kasi Healthcare in 2028.
Kasi Healthcare is a Nigerian medical services and aeromedical organisation based in Lagos.
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