Emergencies: the Role of Private Sector

2. Emergencies: the Role of Private Sector Nilufa Shariff Lecturer Aga Khan University

3. 7th August 1998

4. Case Study • The Nairobi Bomb Blast almost ten years ago (7th August 1998), was an eye opener and brought home the fact that none of us is immune from such calamities.

5. Case Study • Many of us who work in the health care set-up learnt several lessons for instance • The spirit of volunteerism and giving was great from the public and professional alike

7. Public participation • The Matatus gave free transportation to the victims to the hospitals • People donated blood • People volunteered their services for instance serving food • People donated food, blankets etc • Even school children came to help

10. Professional participation • Staff came to work to help without even being called • Everyone who came to the hospital got care • A trauma team went to the blast site • Crisis counseling intervention was offered

12. Study • Done following the blast within the institution found the following areas that needed improvement: • Training for staff • Size of the emergency department was small considering > 300 patients were received • Crowd management was a problem • Coordination and roles of volunteers • Review and revise protocols in existence • (Connie Muriethi, 1998)

13. Some of the Actions Taken • Disaster Preparedness committee constituted with clear terms of reference for instance: • Action cards with roles assigned formulated • Mock Drills • Education of Staff

14. In the words of His Highness the Aga Khan (1999) • “…effective reform requires a significant investment in the personnel responsible for managing health services and providing care. • While some programmes have been implemented to improve the capacities of those charged with managing the reformed health system, little systematic attention has been given to enhancing the clinical and managerial competence of nurses at all levels of the system. • Nurses in service are a logical focus …are usually the first point of contact for a patient seeking care. They are also essential to the competent provision of hospital based tertiary care”.

15. Education • Aga Khan University – Advanced Nursing Services Programme started in 2002 • Started a programme in Accident Emergency and Disaster Preparedness for Registered Nurses • Our target group is Nurses who work both in the public and private sectors.

16. To have the right people in the right place at the right time?

17. Programme Objectives • To equip Registered Nurses with the Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes towards caring for patients who are undiagnosed and undifferentiated in life threatening or potentially life threatening situations within a hospital setup or otherwise

18. Programme • Among the Modules covered: • Holistic Disaster Management • Psychosocial emergencies • Neurological emergencies • Musculoskeletal emergencies

19. Programme • For instance the module on Holistic Disaster Management: • Focuses on the nurses’ role in comprehensive disaster management. It enables the learner to gain insight in the prevention, mitigation, planning, preparation, management and recovery of disasters and multiple casualty incidents

20. Student Evaluations of the Programme • Enhanced their knowledge and skills in emergency nursing • Enhanced their knowledge of handling disasters • Built their critical thinking skills • Built their confidence in handling emergencies of any nature holistically • Helped them appreciate the importance of the psychosocial needs of patients, victims and others

21. Challenges • Students face financial challenges • They face challenges in terms of time off work to attend the programme • We face challenges of access to practice learning environments • The numbers that we can educate are small • Students face challenges in affecting change of practice when the leadership may not be synergy

22. Suggestions • Partnerships can be built through networking and sharing in forums like this one • We can share our knowledge and experiences • We are a private institution within this country and internationally and we collaborate with other organizations like WHO • We could do collaborative research on disaster planning and management which could capture indigenous knowledge and home grown solutions • We are a university and we educate therefore collaboration in this area would be our focus

23. Questions • We educate Nurses is it possible to expand the current scenario? • How about a top-bottom and bottom-top approach • We need to train the leadership at macro, organizational and unit level • Education for the volunteers what is the role of an institution like ours? • Others for instance the people who usually are 1st on the scene like the Matatu drivers through their association • Public education what is our role in collaboration with the media • Who funds this?

24. Thank You