As part of a major modernisation programme, the Aga Khan Hospital — Nairobi has opened an improved Accident and Emergency Centre which is separate from the walk-in Family Centre.
Patients suffering from severe injuries caused by accidents, or acute chest pains, heart attacks, and seizures will be attended to within seconds at the Centre after ringing the bell at the entrance.
"Previously, the Casualty Department used to provide services to a daily average of 250 patients. After a nurse took the patients vital signs on arrival (known as triaging) about 1 0 per cent of the patients were directed to the accident and emergency area while the rest awaited their turn at Casualty, " the hospital Medical Director, Mr M M Qureshi, explained.
"To speed up the treatment of the critically-ill, we decided to arrange for those requiring urgent treatment to be rushed directly to the Accident and Emergency Centre, which has a separate, well marked entrance."
There is a doctor and staff on call specifically trained to handle trauma cases at the Centre. The team of 19 doctors and 24 nurses at the Family Medicine Centre as well as all the other doctors at the Aga Khan Hospital are always on standby to help with emergencies and a crisis like a major accident, or a bomb blast.
Qureshi further said when a patient is brought through the Accident and Emergency entrance, an alarm bell, or the ambulance siren alerts the doctors and nurses. Within seconds, the patient is allocated a "crash cart" fitted with advanced monitors, while being rushed to an appropriate treatment area. "We have also installed new resuscitation equipment including monitors and defibrillators with external pacemakers," he said.
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