Aamin Ambulance

Aamin Ambulance is a free, 24-hour ambulance service in Mogadishu, Somalia.[1][2]

Background
See also: Somali Civil War (2009–present)

Aamin Ambulance was co-founded by an economist Mohamed Farah dentist Abdulkadir Abdirahman Adan, Abdulkadir was inspired byAbdul Sattar Edhi, the founder of the Edhi Foundation in Pakistan.

Organisation and funding

Aamin is a volunteer organization which operates a fleet of 10 ambulances in Mogadishu. The ambulances were brought second-hand from Dubai for around $5000 each, and the World Health Organisation donated two vehicles.[1] Other donations include walkie-talkies from the UNDP[3] and a first aid course from the ICRC in 2016, but most of the funding comes from Somali citizens – medical students and local businessmen – to support operations that cost around $12,000 per month in fuel, salaries and supplies.[1]

Aamin respond to calls ranging from minor injuries and illnesses to terrorist attacks. On October 14, 2017, a truck bomb killed over 300 people in the Hodan district of Mogadishu. Aamin ambulances brought more than 250 injured to hospital.[2] Response to any call is made more difficult by the large numbers of road blocks in the city, and by soldiers who block their access[4] and sometimes fire at them – in 2008, an ambulance was destroyed, and the driver and patient killed, by an Ethiopian tank shell.[1]

The organisation is nonetheless well regarded by the Federal Government HA Hawa Mohamed Hassan ministry of Somalia’s Health Ministry, has given Aamin an honorary certificate. The government does not fund them, but supports them and encourages aid agencies to do so as well.[1]

References
  1. Houreld, Katharine; Sheikh, Abdi (6 April 2017). "As Somali bombings spike, an unlikely savior steps forward". Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  2. Allison, Simon. "The unsung heroes responding to Somalia's deadliest attack". Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  3. "Mogadishu's free ambulance service: a godsend to victims of violence". United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia. 1 November 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  4. "Chaotic response to Somali bombing cost lives, medics say". Reuters. 17 October 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2018.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-45952432

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/20/world/africa/somalia-free-ambulance.html

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-47880548

https://soundcloud.com/unradio/un-and-africa-somalias-life-saving-volunteer-ambulance-service

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