COVID-19: NGOs beef up Kasese response

COVID-19  HEALTH

As Kasese registers increasing cases of the deadly COVID-19 two NGOs have trained an emergency medical team to beef up the ongoing district response to the pandemic.

The District health Officer, Dr Yusufu Baseka says the district, which borders with the COVID-19 hit Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has registered 40 cases, 15 of them being community-based while the remaining are truck drivers.

Dr Baseka says the latest cases, numbering 10 last week alone, were identified in Kambukamabwe in Mpondwe-Lhubiriha Town Council and Kayanja fishing village of Lake Edward, both near the common border, "We are still expecting results from over 400 samples that we have sent to the Uganda Viral Research Institute at Entebbe," Baseka said Thursday.

He said a herbal drink-manufacturing factory was also closed and all workers screened after one of the workers tested positive for the coronavirus.

According to the Resident District Commissioner, who also chairs the district COVID-19 task force, Lt Joe Walusimbi, the district, had by Friday received and flagged off the  distribution of 672, 070 face masks  to the communities, starting with the border areas, Hima and Kasese Municipality, through local structures.

The training 
The EMT was trained on Thursday by the Association of Ambulance Professionals of Uganda (AAPU) in partnership with Malteser International, a German-based humanitarian organisation.

The trained team, comprising ambulance drivers and medical workers from government and private health facilities, underwent the training at Rwenzori International Hotel.

The two agencies also equipped each of the participants with personal protective equipment (PPEs) to safeguard them against being infected by the deadly virus in the course of their work.

The PPEs included face masks, gum boots, surgical gloves, hooded overalls, gaggles, reflections and  sanitisers.

After the training, which involved both theory and practice, the AAPU President, Tom Kyobe, told the press that it targeted health workers, specifically those that work on ambulance sections, to provide pre-hospital emergency care to covid cases.

"We came to empower those who work in ambulances or outside the hospitals in identifying COVID-19 patients and what to put on to handle the patients while safeguarding themselves and their patients," Kyobe said.

"I appeal to the general public to keep safe at all times by adhering to the prescribed measures which include frequent hand-washing with water and soap, using sanitiser wearing face masks in public, social distancing, avoiding public gatherings and not touching our eyes, nose and mouth," said Kyobe.

He said despite the evident laxity in the general population, the preventive messages must be repeatedly stressed.

Dr Rose Muhindo, a Physician at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital and senior Lecturer at Mbarara University of Science and technology (MUST), said ambulances could be transmission points for the coronavirus if improperly handled.

"We know that in the transportation of patients, you are bound to transport different types of patients including bleeding mothers, accident victims, or mothers with obstructed labour so it is important to ensure safety for self and patient," she said.

She urged Kasese to closely supervise the operations and staff of lower-level health facilities to guard against transmitting the virus during referrals.

While earlier training the Kasese EMT team, Dr Muhindo warned against laxity noting that the cases had increased in Uganda because the public had relaxed.

She said Mbarara Regional referral Hospital, where she also heads the COVID-19 task force,  had by Thursday registered about 60 COVID-19 patients.

Dr Teddy Achola of Kagando Hospital said she was going to cascade her training skills to her workstation.

According to Kyobe, the training in Kasese was the third of its type after earlier ones for similar categories of people at the Makerere University Infectious Diseases Institute and Mbarara.
"We have given out PPEs worth sh60m to the three teams," Kyobe said Friday.

It was resolved that health facilities should designate places for cleaning ambulances to contain transmission.

Earlier interventions
As part of its response to the flash floods that ravaged Kasese in May, killing seven people including a soldier and displacing hundreds of residents and Kilembe Mines Hospital, Malteser and the AAPU launched an ambulance-backed response mission during which they managed to support 202 child deliveries, 11 of them on the ambulances.

 "We have since also trained an emergency medical services (EMS) team, the first one of its kind at district level, to provide pre-hospital care emergency to victims," Kyobe said.