State of Kapsabet hospital ambulances wanting
The state of ambulances in Kapsabet Referral hospital is pathetic and wanting. Most of them are in dare need of repair and upgrading in terms of maintenance and supplies to suit patient heads and be in the required standard.
West Media made a visit to the hospital for a fact finding mission and noticed the general problems in the ambulances.
The county government of Nandi has a total of Fourteen ambulances, six of them are for timely response to medical emergencies and referrals but the maintenance of the vehicles is not to date compared to the work it does.
According to a reliable source, most of the ambulances are in pathetic state as follows;
- All straps and fasteners needs replacement, since locks have worn out.
- Seats at the rear are broken.
- Most oxygen gauges are not functioning.
- Flow meters are not serviced to standard.
- Most machines, like patient monitor need mounting and calibration to be a stable cabinet.
- Some of the vehicles have been sent parking because tires are not functioning it needs replacement.
Since the inception and commencement of the services, most vehicles are in dare need of overhauling the mounted equipment and seats e.g KCA 270 F, KCA 387F and KCA 383 F while the American type needs registration of number plate, insurance and equipment to function rather than being stationery.
The GKA 637 M stationed at Nandi Hills sub-county hospital needs to be upgraded to provide the BLS service like the rest, a cupboard, a stretcher, mounted oxygen and servicing need timing belt.
About the service, the source said there is a lot of work in this field because it is a 24 hour service delivery and many challenges ranges from non-guide line to agency, lack of office for day to day activities, paramedics have not been confirmed to date and the consolidated package of Kshs. 15,000 per month is not enough to cater for – daily lunches, NHIF cover, house rent and daily upkeep.
Another issue here is lack of trainings for paramedics and drivers as this is needed most in improving service delivery to the citizens as drivers are not trained in first aid course.
“The county government of Nandi had promised to fulfill the confirmation of Ambulance paramedics but to date it is still a dream.” the source said.
Efforts by West media to find a comment from the minister of health Nandi county,
proved futile after he refused to shed light on the allegations, saying that we should leave the problem the way it is.
We will quote what he said in Kalenjin ’Mete ng’alechotok’ meaning leave that issue.
