A cutting-edge ambulance service introduced by Lira Regional Referral Hospital is transforming emergency maternal care across the Lango Sub-region, with evidence showing a 10% drop in maternal deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth in the last financial year.
Dubbed a “moving Intensive Care Unit,” the hospital’s Advanced Life Support (ALS) Type C ambulance is the only one of its kind in the region and has become a crucial lifeline for critically ill patients—particularly expectant mothers facing complications.
Speaking during a facility tour, Dr. Andrew Odur, Acting Director of Lira Regional Referral Hospital, said the introduction of the Type C ambulance has revolutionised maternal and emergency care. “We used to lose mothers due to delays in getting the advanced care they needed. But since this ambulance arrived, we’ve been able to stabilize patients en route and ensure they arrive alive and ready for continuity of care,” Dr. Odur said.
Unlike the more common Type B ambulances, the Type C unit is equipped with advanced medical equipment including a ventilator for patients with respiratory failure, defibrillators to restart the heart, monitors to track vital signs, and the ability to administer IV treatments and even blood transfusions while in transit.
“This vehicle is essentially a mobile ICU. If I stop breathing, the ventilator will breathe for me. If my heart stops, the defibrillator can revive it. These are interventions that save lives before we even reach the hospital,” Dr. Odur explained.
The impact has been particularly felt among pregnant women with life-threatening complications, including acute kidney injury. According to hospital records, dialysis—another super-specialised service recently introduced—has been instrumental in saving mothers who would have otherwise had to travel to Kampala.
“We’ve had over 1,900 dialysis sessions in just two years, many involving mothers who have now fully recovered,” Dr. Odur said.
Serving 2.65 million people
Despite the success, Dr. Odur expressed concern over the region’s limited emergency transport capacity. “We serve a population of 2.65 million people across 10 districts in Lango. One Type C ambulance cannot be enough,” he warned.
Currently, Lira Hospital coordinates 12 ambulances in total, managed under a newly built Ambulance Dispatch Centre. The centre will use GPS tracking and digital coordination to deploy ambulances efficiently during emergencies, ensuring quicker response times across the region.
The hospital’s ability to deliver critical care has also been enhanced by the recent commissioning of a dedicated power line from Lira substation. Since March, the hospital has reported zero power outages, allowing machines like the CT scan, ventilators, and dialysis units to operate without interruption.
The oxygen plant—commissioned in early 2024—has also been a breakthrough. Capable of producing up to 100 cylinders per day, it not only supplies Lira Hospital but also 16 other health facilities in Lango, and even supports regions like Karamoja and Bunyoro.
“Oxygen now flows directly to patient bedsides. We no longer ferry cylinders between wards,” Dr. Odur said, adding that a previously used plant could only generate 10 cylinders and would often be down for months due to technical failures.
Lira Hospital, originally built in the 1920s and 30s, currently has a bed capacity of 456 but an average occupancy rate of 128%, meaning some patients have to share beds or sleep on the floor.
Despite the congestion, the hospital is rapidly evolving. It now boasts 17 specialists (up from just two five years ago), a modern CT scan, six functional dialysis machines, and eight ICU ventilators (with four currently in use due to space constraints). It has also gone digital—adopting a paperless system that tracks patients and prescriptions electronically, improving accountability and reducing drug stockouts.
The hospital’s SANAS-accredited satellite laboratory conducted over 300,000 diagnostic tests in the last financial year, with full capacity to run tests for all major organs, screen for cancers, and monitor treatment progress.
Dr. Odur underscored the need for more infrastructure expansion, increased staffing, and improved functionality of lower-tier health centres to decongest the referral facility. “We are urging that lower health centres handle routine cases like malaria and coughs. Our mandate is specialised care—dialysis, ICU, cancer, and complex maternal conditions.”
Still, he remains hopeful that with continued government investment and coordination, Lira Hospital can continue to set the pace for regional healthcare delivery.
“This ambulance, the power line, the oxygen plant, the dialysis and laboratory services—these are game-changers. We’re seeing lives saved that would otherwise be lost,” Dr. Odur concluded.
