The Social Health Authority (SHA) has introduced a nationwide ambulance dispatch service that will provide free emergency evacuation to anyone in need through the toll-free number 922, in a move aimed at improving emergency response and reducing delays that have often cost lives.
Speaking on Radio Generation on Wednesday, SHA Deputy Director for County Coordination Valentine Morogo said the National Ambulance Dispatch Centre would coordinate emergency responses by linking patients with the nearest available ambulance using GPS technology. She said the ambulances would be drawn from county governments, private providers and faith-based organisations and would transport patients to the closest emergency care facilities.
Morogo said the ambulance evacuation benefit would be available to every Kenyan resident, whether registered with SHA or not, provided the situation required immediate emergency medical attention.
“If today, God forbid, you have an emergency, an accident, then you'd be entitled to evacuation free of charge from a point of incident to the nearest ECCI, that is emergency care centre, mostly level fours and above,” Morogo said.
She said the programme was introduced to address a long-standing gap in the country's emergency response system, where many patients have been unable to access timely evacuation during medical emergencies.
“That's a gap in Kenya, and we realised that for a long time we didn't have a provision of evacuation where there is an emergency,” she said.
Morogo explained that once a member of the public or a bystander calls 922, trained officers at the National Ambulance Dispatch Centre receive the request and immediately coordinate the response.
“Once they receive that call, they are able to connect you to the nearest ambulance because we've sought authority to geolocate your location,” she said.
She said SHA had partnered with the Communications Authority of Kenya to support location tracking, enabling dispatch officers to identify a caller's location and quickly assign the nearest available ambulance.
According to Morogo, SHA has contracted ambulance providers from county governments, private organisations and faith-based institutions. Before joining the programme, every ambulance undergoes inspection and approval by the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council to ensure it meets the required standards.
She said the authority had also ensured the service reaches people living outside major towns by placing ambulances across different parts of the country, including remote regions.
“If it is Turkana County, an ambulance may be in Lokichar, and that is a place that we'll expect them to be there,” she said, adding that ambulances would be fitted with GPS capabilities to support faster responses.
Morogo said SHA would meet the cost of emergency evacuation by reimbursing contracted ambulance providers Sh4,500 for trips covering up to 25 kilometres and Sh75 for every additional kilometre travelled beyond that distance.
She said patients would not be expected to make payment arrangements during emergencies because SHA would directly reimburse the contracted ambulance providers.
Morogo added that once patients arrive at emergency care facilities, SHA would pay for stabilisation services during the first 24 hours. After that period, patients who are not registered would be required to enrol and begin contributing through the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF).
She said the National Ambulance Dispatch Centre operates throughout the day and night, with trained personnel available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to handle emergency calls.
Morogo added that the programme was being rolled out in phases, with Nairobi County serving as the pilot before the service is expanded across the country.
“We really want to get it right,” she said, adding that SHA had worked with county governments, healthcare providers and other stakeholders to strengthen emergency response across the country.