Emergency Response Africa

Emergency Response Africa (ERA) is a healthcare technology company that coordinates prehospital medical emergency care in Africa, starting in Nigeria. It operates a network of trained first responders, ambulances and verified "emergency-ready" hospitals, connected through proprietary software and a 24/7 Command Center where medical dispatchers triage incoming calls to a toll-free number, provide phone-based first aid, and dispatch the nearest available responders. Care continues with on-site treatment and transport to the nearest emergency-ready hospital, with real-time location tracking and case prioritisation.

Beyond dispatch and ambulance services, ERA sells first aid and CPR training, mental health first aid, workplace safety and basic life support courses; emergency readiness assessments and response planning for organisations; an Emergency-Ready Hospital partner program; a travel-safety offering aimed at Nigerians in the diaspora; and first aid and safety supplies through an online store. For governments and the public sector it offers a turnkey package covering financing models, capacity building for prehospital and hospital emergency wards, asset management, data analysis and resource allocation. Its product layer includes Signal command-centre software, an API and webhook integration allowing partner platforms to push emergency cases into ERA's dispatch centre or embed an in-app emergency call button, a secure partner dashboard, and a lightweight USSD channel for areas with limited internet access.

The company describes itself as a social enterprise — a for-profit business pursuing a social mission — rather than a non-profit, generating revenue from services to sustain and expand operations.

Founding story

Co-founder and CEO Folake Owodunni, originally from Nigeria, was prompted to start the company after her 18-month-old son woke screaming in pain while the family was living in Canada and paramedics responded quickly to a 9-1-1 call, leading her to consider the outcome had they been in Nigeria. Her co-founder Maame Poku had lost a family member in Ghana due to a lack of timely help. The two met in the Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology (MBET) program at the University of Waterloo — Poku graduating in 2019 and Owodunni in 2021 — and concluded the gap in emergency medical access was a pan-African problem to be addressed with technology.

Business model

ERA sells emergency medical services and related products to individuals, corporates, insurers/HMOs, hospitals, governments and NGOs, and positions itself as a for-profit social enterprise that reinvests service revenue into operations and expansion. It aggregates independent medics, third-party ambulance providers and hospitals into a coordinated network rather than relying solely on owned assets.

Revenue comes from emergency response and ambulance services, first aid/CPR and workplace safety training and certification, emergency readiness assessments and response planning engagements, hospital partner programs, public-sector turnkey emergency service contracts, technology integrations (API/command-centre software), and sales of first aid and safety supplies.

Traction

By August 2023 the company reported having addressed more than 3,000 emergency requests since its March 2021 Nigerian launch and observed reductions in response times of as much as 40 per cent. Its website cites trust from more than 5,000 organisations and individuals, and customer testimonials reference Jumia, Ecobank Nigeria, MTN Nigeria, Hygeia, Big Cabal Media's TechCabal Moonshot conference and Premia Business Network.

Latest developments

Recent activity highlighted by the company includes a landmark summit on strengthening prehospital emergency care in Nigeria, the EdoEMS launch with the Edo State Government, the Ogun State rural maternal health emergency transportation partnership, first aid and CPR training delivered to MTN Nigeria staff, and the rollout of the ERA API and USSD offering for partner integrations.