Tuk-Tuk Ambulance Brings Emergency Care to Baringo's Hardest-to-Reach Communities
Thanks to the Jephcott Charitable Trust, a tuk-tuk ambulance has been deployed to CHASE Africa’s local partner Dandelion Africa in Baringo County.
The ambulance is fitted with an ambulance stretcher, fetal Doppler, oxygen cylinder, blood pressure machine, weighing scales, emergency lighting and a range of other essential medical supplies.
It was officially handed over to the Baringo County Government and launched by the Deputy Governor in May 2026. It was then deployed for Backpack Nurse outreaches in Lomerimeri and Ayan, communities more than 20km from the nearest health facility, in areas with difficult terrain and limited road access.
The benefits have been immediate. The ambulance has allowed health teams to reach communities where larger vehicles cannot operate, transporting personnel, medical supplies and equipment to outreach sites in a single journey. Its enclosed interior has provided a private space for clinical consultations, including antenatal care, family planning and immunisation, in communities with no fixed health structures. For health workers, it has significantly reduced the physical and logistical burden of outreach delivery. For patients, it has brought services to their doorstep.
Jane, a woman from Lomerimeri village, is relieved to see the arrival of the tuk-tuk ambulance.
Our village is more than 10 kilometres from Tangulbei Sub-County Hospital, where mothers can deliver safely. Before the tuk-tuk ambulance, reaching the hospital was a big challenge for pregnant women.
When the tri-ambulance was brought to Tangulbei Sub-County Hospital, it was a major relief for our community. It will be especially helpful during emergencies because it has the equipment needed to support a mother while she is being taken to the hospital.
For women like Jane, motorbike transport was expensive and often unavailable and travelling over rough terrain was unsafe and uncomfortable for pregnant women. As a result, some women delivered on the road while trying to reach the hospital, while others, including Jane, delivered all of their children at home.
The vehicle has also attracted interest beyond the programme from County Government. As neighbouring counties explore similar models, the Baringo tuk-tuk ambulance may prove to be the first of many, offering a practical answer to a challenge shared across Kenya's arid and semi-arid regions.
For now, the ambulance is reaching mothers where no other vehicle can. As outreach continues, Dandelion Africa will be monitoring to see what difference it makes over time.
