Meet Dr. Ola Brown, youngest pilot-doctor to launch West Africa’s first air ambulance
By Enitan Abdultawab
Dr. Olamide Brown is the medical innovator behind West Africa’s first full air ambulance service, transforming emergency healthcare across the region by combining her skills as a physician with her passion for flight.
Ola, who was born in London and grew up in a tiny seaside village in 1986, finished her medical education in the United Kingdom at the age of 21, becoming one of the youngest physicians in the nation at the time.
After receiving extensive training in aviation medicine and working for almost ten years in the UK’s National Health Service, she shifted her attention to the healthcare issues facing Africa.
Her career took a significant turn when her young sister became seriously ill while visiting Nigeria and her family learned that there was no air ambulance service in West Africa that could take her to a proper hospital.
Dr. Orekunrin decided to alter the way emergency medical care is provided on the continent after looking all across the region and only discovering a medical flight headquartered hours away in South Africa, which was too late to rescue her.
“The nearest one at the time was in South Africa. They had a 12-hour activation time, so by the time they were ready to activate, my sister was dead,” she recalled.
In response, she established Flying Doctors Nigeria, a Lagos-based provider of air medical services that uses helicopters and airplanes to quickly evacuate and transport seriously injured or ill patients to the proper medical facilities.
Since then, the service has expanded to include both fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft as well as the largest network of air ambulances in West Africa, providing trauma care, emergency medical evacuation, and on-site medical solutions throughout multiple nations.
“I started thinking about whether I should be in England talking about healthcare in Africa, or I should be in Africa dealing with healthcare and trying to do something about it. I wanted to find a way that I can facilitate people who were critically ill. Get them to see a doctor, and not just any doctor. I wanted to facilitate getting the right patient to the right facility, within the right time frame for that particular illness, and that’s why I came to start the air ambulance.”
Under her direction, Flying Doctors Nigeria continues to offer life-saving air transport to patients experiencing critical health events, medical emergencies, and injuries sustained in traffic.
This model has revolutionized access to urgent care in Nigeria and sparked wider conversations about emergency healthcare infrastructure throughout West Africa.
Due to her efforts, Dr. Orekunrin has gained respect on a global scale as a healthcare leader and entrepreneur. She is a member of major medical groups, has been designated one of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders, and has concentrated her work on enhancing emergency systems, trauma response, and pre-hospital treatment throughout the region.
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