Dial 114 for Emergencies: The SAMU Universe

Tribute

How visionary leadership and out-of-the-box thinking revolutionised pre-hospital care in Mauritius

By Dr Shravan Nosib

 “Normality is a well-paved street; it is good for walking – but no flowers will grow there.” — Vincent Van Gogh

Over the past 25 years that I have been living and working in Canada, I regularly visit Mauritius to reconnect with family, friends and former colleagues with the aim of catching up with the latest developments in the island’s health care system. This article focuses on SAMU — ‘Service d’Aide Medicale d’Urgence’ — and its rapid evolution since its inception in 1997.

Pre-SAMU Emergency Services: An Uncoordinated and Disjointed Response

For much of our post-independence history, medical or surgical emergencies were met not by a coordinated system, but by whatever transport and improvised care could be mustered in the heat of the moment. There was no lifeline — no dedicated emergency response number — that guaranteed the dispatch of a trained team; no standard, guideline-based approach to stabilising acutely ill patients at the point of first contact; and no critical response care team.

Patients suffering road accidents, heart attacks, strokes, severe respiratory crises, obstetric emergencies and acute psychoses were transported to the nearest emergency room by private car, taxi or basic ambulance, with minimal and often ineffective intervention provided before reaching hospital. Outcomes in the crucial first minutes of an emergency — the “golden hour” — were left largely to chance and to the proximity of the nearest hospital, rather than to the speed and quality of professional intervention. Mortality remained high.

Birth of SAMU

This huge therapeutic gap was closed in December 1997, with the formal inauguration of SAMU at Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital in Rose Belle. This groundbreaking service was established through close collaboration between the Ministry of Health, the Mauritius Institute of Health, the University of Bordeaux II, SAMU Réunion and the French Government.

Together, they brought the well-established French model of pre-hospital emergency medicine to Mauritius and adapted it to local needs. As part of the launch, an initial cohort of 25 doctors and 35 nurses received specialised training in emergency and paramedical care, forming the backbone of a system that would eventually extend across the entire island.

Evolution of Emergency care since inception of SAMU

Nearly three decades on, the transformation of emergency services has been nothing short of revolutionary. The Ministry of Health now operates a well-established emergency medical system built around a single national emergency dispatch number (114), with publicly run SAMU ambulances working alongside private services to reach acutely ill patients across the island. Emergency medical teams are based at major hospitals, while medical regulation and dispatch are centralised.

Government investment in state-of-the-art technology, including telehealth, has continued to modernise the service and extend its reach to more remote and rural areas. Where pre-hospital care was once haphazard and “au petit bonheur”, it is now more standardised, professionally staffed and integrated into the wider public and private healthcare systems.

Setting the bar very high to match the best

What is most striking about this remarkable progress is how closely the Mauritian model now mirrors emergency medical systems in developed countries. The structure on which SAMU is built — centralised medical dispatch, trained physicians and paramedics linked to a single emergency number, and mobile units capable of delivering critical care at the scene and en route to hospital — is broadly similar to the infrastructure underpinning emergency response systems in France and other developed nations.

For a small island state to have built and sustained such a system is a genuine achievement in public health planning. Few countries of comparable size and resources have managed to establish emergency medical services of this calibre. Mauritius can today generally expect a standard of pre-hospital emergency response that would not be out of place in many parts of Europe or North America.

The Vision, The Mission and its Execution: A Trailblazer’s Approach

This achievement was not the result of happenstance. It owed much to a remarkable physician, Dr Subodh Ananda Nundloll (1949–2025), who believed in providing the best possible care to his fellow citizens. Having completed his training in anaesthesia and critical care at centres of excellence in India and France, he dared to dream big.

Together with like-minded colleagues, advisers, administrators and policymakers, he laid the foundations for what would become a life-saving emergency medical service. He coordinated efforts across two countries, drawing on the expertise of the University of Bordeaux, SAMU Réunion and the French government. He personally supervised the technical training of the first cohort of emergency physicians, nurses and paramedical staff.

Dr Nundloll was based at SSRNH during this period of gestation. At times, I would remark to him that he appeared stressed and unhappy. He would simply shrug his shoulders and give me a wry smile, but he never complained about the task at hand.

When SAMU was launched in 1997 and he was appointed its first director, Dr Nundloll accepted his new responsibilities with humility and grace. SAMU was his labour of love and remains his landmark achievement. Over the years, it has evolved into a centre of excellence that other small developing nations could look to as a model for delivering life-saving pre-hospital interventions to those in need. SAMU training is now a well-established component of the curriculum at the Mauritius Institute of Health.

Bernard Shaw’s words perhaps best capture the essence of the man: “Some men see things as they are and say why; I dream things that never were and say why not!”

Farewell

Dr Nundloll merged with the stars and the Supreme Consciousness on 8 August 2025. He continues to shine in the hearts of his beloved family — his devoted wife, Sunita, and his daughters, Sapna, Reshmi and Deepa.

Thank you for SAMU, Subodh. Aum Shanti, dear friend.

Mauritius Times ePaper Friday 7 August 2026