The Nairobi West Hospital has unveiled a 24-hour customised helipad to bolster medical emergency services that target a growing local and international demand.
The facility which is a first of its kind in the country will boost the hospital’s ability to respond to medical emergencies by facilitating air evacuations in the country and across the East Africa region.
The hospital’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Andrew Gachie, said the lifesaving resource will speed up access to medical services, especially for critically ill patients.
“Each minute will now henceforth make a huge difference in our patients’ lives. The new helipad will speed up the time incurred transferring critically ill patients to the hospital, giving them the very best chance of survival,” Gachie said.
He said that the facility will also cure the challenge of navigating traffic that has been a major headache in a medical emergency evacuation.
“We are now moving away from the ground to a more efficient air medical emergency evacuation regime,” Gachie added.
The 50.5 meters-high helipad that is perched atop its 17 story- modern medical facility is designed to give patients quick access to crucial care in cases involving trauma, critical care, surgery, high-risk birthing, and premature newborn critical care.
The helipad has been designed and built to Joint Commission International standards with a capacity to hold up to eight tonnes.
A trauma bay has been developed below the helipad to handle critical events during emergency evacuations.
The hospital that was founded in 1980 has expanded into a center offering general and specialised services to clients both locally and from the East African region.
“We now have the right modern medical facilities that can offer a record 2-5 minutes treatment of critical illnesses. We are changing management of cancer in the country and across the region,” Gachie said.
Through partnerships with Turkish and Indian firms, the hospital intends to offer packages of cancer treatments including bone marrow transplants.
