•“Mama Lucy Hospital is the centre health facility within Nairobi that at any time there is a disaster, it’s the first point of care that mass population are driven to,” Wafula said.
Image: GEORGE OWITI
Mama Lucy Hospital on February 1 received 220 victims of the Embakasi gas explosion, treated and discharged 196 while 24 others were referred to Kenyatta National Hospital and Kenyatta University Teaching and Referral Hospital.
The hospital’s CEO Dr Martin Wafula said seven victims of the fire tragedy were referred to KNH, while seventeen others were taken to KUTRH respectively. None of the victims died at Mama Lucy Hospital.
Wafula attributed the successful attendance of the victims to what he termed a prompt and well-coordinated response to the tragedy that happened in the Mradi area, Embakasi East subcounty.
“We received 75 per cent of the victims, effectively managed them and lost none at Mama Lucy Hospital,” Wafula told the press at the public facility in Nairobi on Saturday.
He was flanked by the hospital’s medical superintendent Dr Nehemiah Lang’at, nursing services manager Helen Mwai, communications director Jennifer Mumbua and Finance Committee chairperson Yvonne Makokha.
Wafula said the hospital’s emergency response centre manned by one of the top managers daily helped coordinate the rescue mission through prompt and effective response thereby saving hundreds of lives.
“…and that night the top management on duty was Dr Lang’at. When the tragedy happened, he was the first contact person. He responded in less than five minutes,” Wafula said.
He said to respond to the tragedy effectively they immediately coordinated and increased the number of doctors by fifteen and nurses by ten.
“We were able to coordinate with fire engines, we released our four ambulances additional to eleven others that came from our emergency centre at City Hall, alongside fire engines that came from the Barracks, Air Force and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport,” Wafula said.
Wafula said as the patients were taken to Mama Lucy Hospital, medics were able to filter them to ascertain levels of injuries.
“We were able to put victims with critical barns in filters. Those above 60 per cent were received and resasinated immediately. Some were brought in while completely unconscious,” Wafula said.
He said the facility had four ventilators for those who needed them at the hospital’s Emergency and Accidents section.
Wafula said tens of the victims were placed in ventilators and stabilised before they were referred to other facilities. The seven who suffered critical burns were referred to Kenyatta National Hospital.
He said those who had moderate burns were isolated and managed before discharge.
The ones with medium injuries of between 20 – 60 per cent were referred to Kenyatta Teaching and Referral Hospital.
“We activated our blood banks so that if there was blood deficit, we were able to get and reach out to partners because in such disasters, you have to amalgamate all resources; human resources, supplies and commodities and that’s why everything moved seamlessly due to that kind of coordination,” Wafula said.
Wafula said they were following up on those referred to the said facilities to monitor their progress.
He said those who had been discharged were under care of peripheral facilities; health centres and dispensaries managed by community health promoters who as a facility they were in touch with every time.
“So that if there is any challenge, we are able to come in and resolve,” Wafula said.
The CEO said they had empowered their physiotherapy and rehabilitation centres to be able to rehabilitate those with fractures.
They have also revamped their guiding and counseling centre so that those who have post-traumatic stress and disorder are able to be counselors and integrated in their families.
Wafula said the hospital had a state – of –art CT scan 128 slides that has the capacity of doing cardiac scan and colon cancer screening.
“We have expanded our trauma and orthopedic centre and in the first history in Africa now we have an integrated Maternal and Child Health Centre with breast and cervical cancer screening together with early childhood disability assessment.” Wafula said.
He said the facility now has five operation theatres with a capacity of about 40 surgeries every day.
Wafula said the hospital sees more than 3, 000 patients, conducts deliveries for 70 mothers, conduct 25 caesarians and 40 surgeries per day.
It has three X-ray machines doing minimum 350 X-rays in a day and an eye hospital that sees about 300 patients per day.
It operates on a cashless payments policy.
He said they were in the process of establishing a ban unit in the facility to reduce number of referrals whenever such incidents occur.
“Mama Lucy Hospital is the centre health facility within Nairobi that at any time there is a disaster, it’s the first point of care that mass population are driven to,” Wafula said.
Image: GEORGE OWITI