Senegal’s health services are overwhelmed as a third wave of COVID-19 spreads throughout the country.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Senegal’s National SAMU, the emergency paramedic service, has been in charge of registering all COVID-19 cases and organizing the regulation of patients, emergency doctors and treatment centers.
Dr. Abdallah Wade, Head of the SAMU Regulation said they have had an influx of calls for respiratory distress. They had a few in the first wave, a few in the second wave, but since the beginning of the third wave, 90% of the calls are for respiratory distress.
Now there are fewer and fewer hospital beds, and SAMU’s emergency doctors are rushed off their feet responding to the influx of suffering patients.
The SAMU regulation team work around the clock and are helped by other emergency services such as firefighters.
