ROAD SAFETY: PI WAN MEDICAL CENTER DONATES FIRST AID KIT TO GULU TRAFFIC POLICE TO STRENGTHEN EMERGENCY RESPONSE

ASP Niwagaba Bruno while receiving a first aid kit from Pi Wan medical Centre representative (All photos by Biko Rombe)

By Biko Rombe

Gulu City

Pi Wan Medical Centre has donated a first aid kit to Gulu Traffic Police to strengthen emergency response and improve timely care for victims of road traffic crashes.

The donation was made on Saturday, August 22, 2026, during the Gulu Safe Roads Campaign Community Dialogue held at Gulu University, where health professionals, police, academia, transport operators, the media, insurers and civil society organizations gathered to discuss ways of making Gulu a model city for road safety.

Dr. Eric Ssennuni, a medical doctor, global health specialist and Founder and Chief Strategist at Gen Community Health Initiative, said the donation responds to a major challenge identified among traffic officers — lack of basic equipment to assist injured people at crash scenes.

Dr. Ssennuni said traffic officers are often among the first responders when crashes occur, yet their ability to provide immediate assistance can be limited when they lack the necessary equipment.

He said the first aid kit donated by Pi Wan Medical Centre will therefore not only benefit the Traffic Police but could potentially help save lives across the wider Gulu community.

“PI Wan Medical Center coming through and donating such a kit means a lot, not just to the traffic police but to the entire community of Gulu City,” Dr. Ssennuni said.

ASP Niwagaba Bruno and other stakeholders after a successful donation.

The donation was received by ASP Niwagaba Bruno, the Officer in Charge of Traffic at Gulu Central Police Station, who described the support as timely, given the role of traffic officers as first-line responders at crash scenes.

ASP Niwagaba said the equipment will help officers provide basic assistance to people involved in road crashes as they await further medical attention.

“Being the first line responders to crash scenes, I believe this is going to help us a lot to protect and help people who will be involved in accidents,” he said.

He has also appealed to other organisations and well-wishers to support traffic officers with more emergency response equipment, noting that additional assistance would help them respond more effectively to road crashes.

“Whoever is out there that can still offer more support in helping during emergencies, we highly welcome,” ASP Niwagaba said.

The donation comes as road safety stakeholders continue to push for a stronger emergency response system alongside efforts to prevent crashes.

Dr. Ssennuni said the Gulu Safe Roads Community Dialogue was deliberately designed to bring together people whose decisions and daily activities directly influence road safety, rather than simply focusing on the number of participants.

He said the meeting brought together voices from the health sector, academia, media, insurance, civil society, transport operators and border associations to identify practical solutions that can be implemented within the community.

According to Dr. Ssennuni, preventing road crashes remains a priority, but communities must also be prepared to respond quickly when crashes occur because some incidents may be unavoidable.

He said the goal should be to ensure that people involved in road crashes do not unnecessarily die or suffer preventable disabilities because help arrived too late.

The dialogue also called for collective responsibility among road users, with Dr. Ssennuni urging residents of Gulu to make road safety part of their everyday lives.

He said Gulu cannot achieve its ambition of becoming a model city for socioeconomic transformation if young people and other residents continue losing their lives through preventable road traffic injuries.

The Gulu Safe Roads Campaign is therefore combining road-crash prevention with efforts to strengthen timely care for victims, with stakeholders expected to continue working together to make the city a safer place for motorists, passengers, pedestrians and other road users.

For Pi Wan Medical Center, the first aid kit donation marks a practical contribution toward that goal, placing basic emergency support closer to where road crashes occur and where immediate intervention can make a difference.

Written by newsroom-radiopacis