WAS_SafetyFirst_6_EN

hospital is hampered by various factors. These include, for example, a lack of infrastructure due to poor road conditions and a lack of technical equipment such as functioning emer- gency rescue system especially in public facilities. Standard vehicles can be used in urban environments; outside the city, four-wheel drive vehicles are the most suitable due to the ter- rain, but in this case the suitability for intensive care transfers still has to be compromised. “Unfortunately, the conditions mean that even some of our highest-quality ambulances can- not reach certain rural areas”, regrets Julius. “The aim is to provide a comprehensive rescue service in line with European stan- dards.” Used WAS box-body vehicles based on Mercedes Sprinters and new Toyota Land Cruisers are currently in use at LIMEAR, which have impressed Julius: “Our WAS ambulances, which we purchased in 2018, at that time already 4 years in opera- tion, are the best in the fleet. The durability is immense and the build quality is unrivalled.” The entire WAS team is delighted with such praise, especially Leopold Ekedi, the first point of contact and Head of Sales for cus- tomers in Africa, who knows the conditions on the ground from his own experience and knows that a well-equipped emergency vehicle can ultimately only be as good as the infrastructure and medical crew that use it. LIMEAR is also a pioneer in this field with its own control centers, efficient technology and a well-trained team. LIMEAR has a 24-hour call center that uses a globally recognised internatio- nal medical dispatch system to respond quickly and effectively to calls. The ability to provide the dispatcher with vital medical informa- tion and assistance directly, enabling them to take life-saving instruction to the caller before rescuers arrive, often means the difference bet- ween life and death. Following the European model, the dispatchers coordinate the movements of the vehicle fleet and ensure that all infor- mation is passed on to the ambulance crew. What other goals does Julius Nduguyangu Mugisha have for the future of LIMEAR? “We want to provide efficient and cost-effective emergency medical services in line with European standards for all peo- ple in emergencies in East and Central Africa. Or quite simply: we want to save even more lives, but to do this we need many more emergency vehicles and more specialised personnel”, answers Julius, who is already well on the way to achieving this with the planning of a further 17 WAS Land Cruisers. 27 The landlocked country of Uganda has a total area of 241,550 km² and is located on Lake Victoria. It has direct borders with the five neighbouring countries Congo (Dem. Rep.), Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan and Tanzania. 72 % of the area is used for agriculture. At 26 %, only a relatively small proportion of the population lives in urban areas. Uganda has 146,000 km of developed road network (compared to 830,000 km in Germany). Region: East Africa Area: 241,550 km² Population: 47,250,000 Capital: Kampala Currency: Ugandan shilling (UGX) Languages: English, Swahili, Luganda, and other local languages