There’s something powerful about the way Emmanuel Osemudiame tells his story.
Maybe it’s the pride in his voice when he mentions that he’s a second-generation health professional, or the way he describes growing up beside his mother’s clinic, one flat for patients, one for family, and a childhood spent seeing emergencies and all sorts of clinical situations.
You get the sense that medicine isn’t just his career, it’s his inheritance.
But it’s also more than that. Because somewhere between losing loved ones to failed emergency responses and watching a young boy bleed out on the streets of Surulere, that inheritance turned into a mission.
That mission became Salvus Emergency, an ecosystem of precise emergency response solutions for Nigerians that mitigates the impacts of life-threatening events.
In this conversation, Emmanuel talks about what it means to build a tech-powered emergency response system in a country where “seconds matter,” how data (not just ambulances) is saving lives, and why he believes ordinary Nigerians deserve extraordinary care.
It’s not just a startup story. It’s a fight against time itself.
Tell us more about yourself
Emmanuel Osemudiame likes to begin his story with a lineage. “I’m a second-generation health professional,” he says, almost as if he’s reciting a family creed.
His roots are woven through doctors, nurses, pharmacists, researchers, scientists, and an entire ecosystem of healers, most of whom are from his mother’s side.
He grew up inside that world, quite literally. His mother’s clinic sat beside their home, one flat for living, one for saving lives. “I usually say that I grew up in the clinic,” he recalls. “I saw emergencies, all sorts of clinical situations.”
The lines between family life and medical urgency blurred early, shaping his perspective on the world.
So, becoming a health professional wasn’t a surprise. It felt inevitable. He remembers reading Gifted Hands by Ben Carson as a child and thinking, yes, this is it.
This is what life will be. But somewhere between those early dreams and adulthood, something shifted. His curiosity turned from practicing medicine to influencing the systems behind it.
“I spend a lot of time pushing health policies,” he says. “Trying to influence what health policies are in Nigeria and Africa at large.”
Tell us more about Salvus Emergency. What is it all about?
Salvus Emergency began as something simpler, Salvus Health. It was a logistics bridge, linking independent ambulance services to events and organizations that needed them.
But personal loss transformed it into something bigger.
“I and my co-founder, Dr. David Onoja, have lost friends and family,” Emmanuel says. “We knew we needed to take it to the next level.”
That next level became a fusion of healthcare and technology. Salvus Emergency evolved from coordinating ambulances to building a full emergency response ecosystem, tech-enabled, data-driven, and, at its core, deeply human.
“One of our popular lines,” Emmanuel says with quiet conviction, “is that seconds matter to us. It takes seconds between life and death.”
Salvus, as he describes it, doesn’t just connect you to a hospital; it follows you from the point of emergency to recovery, “wrestling against mortality” the whole way.
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What inspired you people to start Salvus Emergency?
There’s a story Emmanuel can’t shake. In 2018, he saw a young boy in Surulere bleed to death on the street. Nobody stepped forward. People watched, afraid.
“Nigerians are scared to help,” he says. “We believe police will arrest us.”
That moment, and a family tragedy before it, shaped him. “I had just come back from school,” he recalls. “It was the World Cup season. I watched somebody pass from life to being part of the mortality data.”
He pauses. “That one event left a mark on me. A young boy who could have been anything… robbed of that opportunity because we do not have proper emergency structure.”
In many countries, he notes, a call to 911 is enough. “Life first, before we figure out what happened,” he says. “But that’s not the structure we have in Nigeria. That’s why Salvus is here, to bridge that gap.”
What do Nigerians need to know in order to act during an emergency?
“Awareness and education,” Emmanuel says, immediately. “That’s where it starts.”
He’s frustrated, not unkindly, by how much misinformation surrounds health in Nigeria. Even with the internet flooded by doctors and health educators, myths persist, about childbirth, trauma, even what hospitals can legally do.
“People say hospitals reject patients,” he explains. “No, hospitals refer. The law does not allow rejection, but there are levels: primary, secondary, and tertiary. A matron at a primary health center cannot treat a gunshot wound.”
The problem, he says, is miseducation. Salvus tries to correct this by pushing out videos, data, and documentaries across social media.
“Nobody’s going to arrest you for calling Salvus,” he insists. “Nobody’s going to arrest you for calling the police.”
The bigger goal is simple: build a population that understands how emergency systems actually work.
How fast do you aim to reach someone who needs your service?
Through simplicity. “You can access Salvus through a USSD code or the app,” Emmanuel says.
The code matters because not everyone is online. “About 150 million Nigerians have access to a phone,” he explains. “But only 30 million can actually operate a tech-enabled phone. That leaves about 120 million disconnected from digital help.”
That’s where the USSD code becomes life-saving. Once a person calls, Salvus uses an AI-driven system to locate them precisely, down to the neighborhood.
And they don’t just send you to the nearest hospital. “We find you not the closest hospital, but the right hospital,” he says. “Because proximity is not care.”
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What is the USSD?
“752,” he says. Simple. Fast. Memorably short, because “seconds matter.”
Which tool in your stack gives you the biggest area of emergency response?
He doesn’t hesitate. “Data.”
Before launching publicly, Salvus spent a full year collecting data across Nigeria, mapping hospitals, beds, and staff capacities.
“We have data even the federal government doesn’t have,” Emmanuel says, not boastfully, just certain.
“We can tell you how many beds are in LUTH, 3,000. And we can tell you which centers have eight beds and five staff. Precision is in data. Data is precision.”
How do you raise capital to start and run Salvus Emergency?
They bootstrapped. Emmanuel and David poured in their own funds, then turned to family and friends.
“If your idea can’t get funding from family and friends,” he says, “I don’t think any external investor will believe in it.”
They’ve received small cheques from angel investors and are open to more. “Nothing is easy,” he admits. “But we push, and we do with what we have.”
How does the platform authenticate responders and protect users?
He becomes technical here.
Salvus, he explains, uses encryption, follows HIPAA standards, and runs monthly security audits.
“Health data is the most important data,” he says. “With AI, cracks can appear. We constantly audit our system to make sure there are none.”
Does Salvus have its own ambulances?
“No,” he says plainly. “We stay floating through partnerships.”
Those partnerships stretch wide, independent ambulance services (land, marine, air), hospitals, and medical tourism startups.
“This is how Salvus makes sure we get to you and give you a fighting chance.”
How were you able to convince these partners to partner with Salvus?
“Our USP is filled with value,” Emmanuel says. “When people see value, they see money. Nobody wants to leave money on the table.”
It’s not a cold statement, it’s practical. “Yes, we’re saving lives,” he says, “but if we don’t make money, we can’t keep the lights on.”
Partnerships thrive, he explains, because the goals align, impact, efficiency, and sustainability.
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In your business, what metric matters the most?
“Response time,” he says first. Then adds, “and lives saved.”
Response time defines precision. “If you’re fast, you can claim precision.” Salvus uses motorbikes and first responders to beat traffic and reach patients faster than traditional ambulances.
“We were meticulous enough to factor in traffic,” he says. “We know Nigerians are desensitized to sirens. So sometimes we send powerbikes first, to stabilize the patient.”
Have you ever received a false alarm before?
“Of course,” Emmanuel laughs. “Even the police and hospitals get false alarms.”
He remembers one case, someone accidentally dialled their USSD code. “It happens,” he says lightly, as if to say, part of the job.
Don’t you think LASEMA and Salvus are doing the same thing?
He sees overlap, but not competition. “LASEMA is government-owned; Salvus is private-owned. We both want the right emergency structure.”
Then he broadens the frame. Salvus, he says, is more than ambulances, it’s an ecosystem.
He mentions two new products: Medical Visa by Salvus, which fast-tracks patients abroad for specialized care, and Emergency Savings Account by Salvus, built through partnerships with HMOs.
“LASEMA can handle 34 – 35% of genuine response calls,” he says. “Salvus is aiming for 60 – 70%, and in the coming years, 80 – 90%.”
How did you monetize your platform?
“Through subscriptions, service fees, and partnerships.”
Those partnerships, with HMOs, hospitals, and travel groups like Wakanow, fund much of their growth.
“Our Medical Visa by Salvus can take you to Dubai for treatment,” he explains. “Even with travel restrictions, our partnership with Wakanow Group makes it possible.”
Salvus, he emphasizes, isn’t just a service, it’s a network of services, each generating value while expanding access.
How do you balance serving vulnerable communities while staying sustainable in business?
It’s a constant question in the office. “How do we make sure we don’t run out of money?” he says.
One answer: partnerships for social impact. Salvus works with Leap Africa to bring emergency services to underserved areas like Makoko.
“There’s no functioning hospital there,” Emmanuel says. “We’re building a structure that we can replicate in other communities.”
They’ve already gathered data to guide that work. “We intend to use that data to serve these communities,” he adds.
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What are the challenges you have faced, and how did you overcome them?
Competition tops the list. “When we speak to people, they say, we already know a company doing this,” he says. “Then we have to show why we’re different.”
It’s not always funding, it’s education. “We help Nigerians see that we are offering them life through speed,” he says. “Challenges are important; they help us find a way through or around.”
What kind of alliance do you look for and why?
“Government,” Emmanuel says firmly. “There will be no emergency structure without the right policies.”
He points to one example: the old law that prevented hospitals from treating gunshot victims without a police report. “Seconds matter,” he says. “That law cost lives.”
So Salvus pushes alliances with policymakers, hospitals, and insurance companies. “If hospitals are verified and insurance is widespread, Nigerians have a fighting chance,” he says.
He’s passionate about health insurance. “Nobody plans for emergencies,” he says. “But when they come, you need insurance. You can’t be fighting mortality and also looking for two million Naira.”
Has any collaboration surprised you by how much impact it unlocked for your business?
He smiles when he mentions one: medical tourism companies in the UAE. “It’s helped us save Nigerians and helped our partners reach more people.”
He talks about the Canadian Specialist Hospital in Dubai, “seven minutes from the airport, ready for all kinds of emergencies.”
For him, that partnership is proof that collaboration can save lives and open doors.
Where do you see Salvus Emergency in the next 5 years?
“A million users,” Emmanuel says. “Millions saved.”
He and David wake up every day thinking about structure—how to rebuild Nigeria’s broken emergency system, how to extend it across West Africa.
“The same structure we lack here,” he says, “is what you find in Sierra Leone and Liberia. We want to build the bridge.”
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What lesson have you learned so far in your journey as an entrepreneur?
He laughs first. “I told them at the office I’d say this: don’t do startup business.”
Then he grows reflective. “You cannot sell a product you don’t believe in,” he says. “The only reason you’ll succeed is if you believe in what you’re doing.”
When he started Salvus, he gave himself two months to prove it would work. Fourteen months later, he’s still building, still believing.
“A salesman has to believe in the product,” he says. “At Salvus, we believe in all our products, the app, the USSD code, the Medical Visa, the Emergency Savings Account.”
He pauses again, as if summing up everything he’s said so far. “We’re here to change the status quo,” he says. “Because when emergencies happen, people expect no help. We’re here to bring help, and to bring it fast.”
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