Report exposes Morocco’s emergency service failures, costing hundreds of lives

The Moroccan Network for the Defense of the Right to Health and the Right to Life has warned that “the absence of a unified and effective national emergency ambulance system is driving a worrying rise in preventable deaths in Morocco, particularly from road accidents.”

In a report on the weakness of the emergency ambulance system and its impact on human lives, the network attributed the situation to structural shortcomings in mobile emergency and resuscitation services, leading to “delays that waste the golden hour needed to save victims by reaching the nearest hospital in time.”

The report stressed that the first hour after an accident is critical, especially in road crashes, where deaths often result from severe bleeding or head injuries in the first minutes or during transport.

It added that emergencies such as heart attacks, strokes, breathing difficulties, and acute poisoning also require immediate medical intervention, sometimes including rapid air evacuation in hard-to-reach areas.

National statistics show that a large share of deaths occur during transport or before reaching public hospitals, highlighting the urgent need for qualified pre-hospital care.

The use of poorly equipped ambulances and the absence of specialized medical staff, it said, continue to claim lives during transport.

It also criticized the limited reach of the Service d’Aide Médicale Urgente (SAMU), which, despite being launched in 2005 and expanded after 2012, remains confined to major cities and suffers from resource shortages, uneven service quality, and poor coordination.

The network raised concerns about the suspension of SAMU services in Rabat and Casablanca university hospitals, despite significant public spending.

The network also warned about the deterioration of the ambulance fleet, estimated at around 620 vehicles, and frequent breakdowns that contribute to deaths during transport.

It noted that more than 100 modern ambulances acquired in 2015 at high cost remain largely unused across several regions.

Ali Lotfi, head of the National Network, told Hespress AR that SAMU is still not fully operational despite available funding, adding that millions were spent on the system, including more than 100 modern ambulances that are now largely unused

The report also criticized weak coordination between civil protection services, hospital emergency departments, local authorities, security services, and private ambulances, as well as an outdated legal framework governing emergency transport.

It pointed to overcrowding in emergency departments, staff shortages, equipment failures, and a lack of medicines, leaving patients waiting for hours before receiving treatment.

The network called for urgent reform, including a unified national law to regulate emergency medical services, the establishment of a centralized call regulation center using modern technologies such as GPS, and the upgrade of the ambulance fleet to ensure nationwide coverage.