Kenyatta National Hospital has received helmet ventilators from the Respiratory Society of Kenya to boost the fight against Covid-19.
If used well, the helmet-based ventilation is expected to significantly ease the pressure on the intensive care unit beds and ventilators, should there be future waves of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The units received last week can also be attached to many oxygen delivery sources.
The helmet surrounds the patient’s head to supply oxygen and is sealed with a soft, airtight collar that wraps around the neck.
Research at the University of Chicago shows that using such helmets instead of standard face masks that cover the nose and mouth helps critically-ill patients breathe better and can prevent them from needing intubation with a ventilator machine.
Similarly, patients with helmet ventilators spent less time in the ICU and had better survival rates.
ReSoK will also be conducting an observational study to evaluate the effectiveness of the helmet-based ventilator system in Kenya.
“Helmet ventilation is not a common practice worldwide and we are among the pioneer countries to bring this in.
"It is a mode of non –invasive ventilation, an option for anybody who is awake and alert or can obey commands,” ReSoK president George Nyale said.
“It is a better option since it has access to a straw to enable a patient to feed continuously while receiving the oxygen at a pressurised level, things you cannot achieve using invasive ventilation,” Nyale added.
The helmet-based ventilation system will be useful in addition to the tools available for management of acute respiratory failure.
“We are honoured that this is the place you have chosen to pioneer this new way of ventilating patients and are open to participate in the study. We look forward to collaborating and partnering with you,” head of Respiratory Infection Disease Unit at KNH, Jackson Atina, said.
Acute respiratory distress syndrome is a severe and often lethal injury to the lungs that causes fluid to accumulate in the lungs' microscopic air sacs.
It can lead to partial collapse of the lungs, dangerously low blood-oxygen levels and death.
To date, Kenya has recorded 253,310 Covid-19 positive cases, 246,829 recoveries and 5,281 deaths.
Health ministry data shows that as at Saturday, a total of 478 patients were admitted in various health facilities countrywide, while 1,203 were under the Home-Based Isolation and Care programme.
Twenty five patients were in the ICU, 13 of whom are on ventilatory support and 12 on supplemental oxygen.
Another 153 patients were separately on supplemental oxygen with 151 of them in the general wards and two patients in the High Dependency Units.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
