On the night of February 1, 2024, most of the accident and emergency sections of health facilities within the country's capital, Nairobi especially public hospitals were swarmed with tens of casualties from the Embakasi gas plant explosion.
Mama Lucy, Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) and Kenyatta University Teaching, Research and Referral Hospital (KUTRRH) were all overwhelmed, and families of the wounded were at the mercy of the thin number of standby health attendants.
A spot-check by K24 Digital yesterday, which involved talking to some of the affected families, revealed the dire need for expanded emergency care for accident casualties in the country, particularly fire and fatal tragedies.
“I sustained a serious injury on my forehead but have not been able to get admission to a health facility,” Mike Nzau, whose true identity is guarded for patient confidentiality, said.
However, for Nzau, the presence of other private entities that responded to the distress call was a huge blessing in disguise.
“I am very grateful to the Nairobi Hospital doctors for treating me for free,” he told this publication.
Another affected person, Mercy Gakendu has been nursing her 3-year-old baby whose chest has been aching since the blast but has not been attended to because her only hope was in a public health facility, which she knew would attend to her at a pocket-friendly cost.
But she lost hope after she was kept at the waiting bay for more than 10 hours. “I lost hope. My child’s pain was getting on my nerves, and I was becoming sick myself. I prayed for miracles before I left the hospital,” she said, noting that indeed a miracle happened when she returned to Embakasi and found medics from the Nairobi Hospital attending to fire survivors at the Embakasi Health Centre.
Nairobi Hospital Chief Executive Officer, James Nyamongo while urging other corporate bodies in the private sector to come forward and help those affected, said the high-end health facility didn’t have a better way of responding to this emergency than to mobilise its medical experts to the scene.
“The situation on the ground is dire and I urge other private sector players to come forward and lend a hand to our brothers and sisters who are in pain,” Nyamongo said at the closing of a three-day free medical care by the hospital.
He noted that when an emergency strikes, it is everyone’s business to see to it that the affected people are assisted.
“The collaboration between public and private sector players is best seen during a crisis,” he said, thanking the Nairobi County government for allowing the Nairobi Hospital to use the Embakasi Health Centre grounds to attend to Kenyans who were hurt in the gas explosion.
Accidents and Emergency Manager at the hospital, Dr. David Abaya confirmed that over 500 people showed up over the 3 days seeking different kinds of assistance.
“Some of the people who came for assistance could not walk to this place because of the injuries sustained last week. We had to send our ambulances to fetch them from their homes and Embakasi Social Hall where most of those displaced are temporarily housed,” the doctor said.
He revealed that besides the doctors’ consultations, the Nairobi Hospital team offered other services to the gas blast victims such as wound dressing, specialized wound care and related medication, physiotherapy, assessments and referrals for cases that needed further checks such as x-rays, among others.
A team of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists and counsellors from the hospital pitched a tent in Embakasi, a few hours after the explosion.
