A Namibian non-profit organisation, Emergency and Medical Assistance (EMA), has joined the European Emergency Number Association (EENA), a global organisation dedicated to advancing emergency communications.

The first chairman of EMA, Fabian Martens, says the strategic partnership marks the first in Africa. 

The Emergency and Medical Assistance (EMA) provides comprehensive emergency response services in Namibia. 

While the European Emergency Number Association (EENA) is dedicated to improving safety and security through cutting-edge emergency communications. 

EMA's chair, Martens, says the partnership will bridge the gap between local rescue operations and international best practices by improving the operational capacity of EMA's Emergency Control Centre (ECC) in Windhoek. 

EMA provides assistance to the public through its 9112 emergency hotline and free smartphone app, and therefore Martens says joining EENA means immediate, tangible benefits for its staff and the Namibian public.

Through this partnership, EMA's central focus is to enhance training and development of the emergency care practitioners stationed inside its control centre to sharpen their abilities to assess calls, provide life-saving medical instructions over the phone and dispatch ambulances faster and more accurately.

For Namibia as a whole, the integration of EENA's methodologies into a local non-profit means a stronger, more resilient healthcare safety net as improved capacity minimises the delay between an emergency call and an ambulance arriving on the scene.