Milestones...

MILESTONES ...........................

The growth of a child, though invisible to the naked eye, is as certain as night following day and vice versa. The joy that the first step or the first tooth or the first word brings to the parents is tangible and far reaching – a certain sign that a splendid 24-hour-365-day a year job is being done really well in the background!!

Thus was the feeling on the 9^th of January 2015, as EMU attained another milestone in its steady growth process.

The emergency medicine enthusiasts and “adrenaline junkies” gathered for their first ever meeting at the MUMSA canteen in Mulago Hospital, a heavily important agenda in tow. The meeting would set the stage for the formation of an association that would spearhead the growth of emergency medicine in Uganda – the fulfillment of dreams that had been held dear to this moment.

The agenda – review of the EMU Constitution, formation of the executive committee, EMU blog and activities for the year.

The Participants

Eight pioneering members – nurses and doctors with various specializations and one thing in common i.e. a love for emergency care, verve for developing the field thereby changing the fortunes of Ugandans who will need emergency care.

For a number of the team, it was the first time they would be meeting each other, whilst a time for reminiscing on the past for others. All in all, it was a rewarding experience for one and all.

The Meeting

The constitution was reviewed, edited and sent on to the people that write constitutions for panel beating and making more legally appropriate.

An executive committee was elected as a prerequisite for forming the association and formalizing the operations of the group.

The EMU blog, as a tool to build awareness of and the group, also formed a good bulk of the discussions. The traffic that it creates in building a readership and awareness of emergency medicine is a cornerstone for the growth of emergency medicine. Consequently, the members committed to making article contributions to the blog.

The End Game

L-R: Josephine, Michael, Elisha, Stone, Fred, Cliff, Annet, Joseph

From this we can see the reality of Emergency Medicine Uganda rising out of the shadows of our dreams to put on the flesh of Association and organization. The possibility that in the coming future, there will be an effective and efficient emergency response system that minimizes the impact of injuries and acute illnesses is just a bit more tangible.

EMU EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 2015/17

·        President: Joseph Kalanzi

·        Vice President: Annet Alenyo Ngabirano

·        General Secretary: Elisha Mullen Okaisu

·        The Treasurer: Cliff Aliga Asher

·        The Chairman Scientific committee: Fred Bulamba

·        The Chairperson Disaster committe: Josephine Nabulime 

·        The Chairman Membership committee: Cornelius Ssendagire

·        Communication /Public Relations: Lameck ssemogerere & Michael Lukoma

·        Chairman Board: Tonny Luggya

·        Patron: Arthur Kwizera

Onwards EMU!!!

Written by Elisha Mullen Okaisu & Annet Alenyo Ngabirano

Somewhere on the Kampala-Gulu Highway

SOMEWHERE ON THE KAMPALA-GULU HIGHWAY …

It is 3.30 am, and I am not only out of my bed but extremely exhausted. This is not something new. However, the fact that I am about 400 km from where I set out to be the day before is all the more frustrating!! I feel like I have been to hell and back. My head is pounding. A dull monotonous rhythmic thud, like a motor and pestle making peanut paste in Owino market. My body is aching even in places I didn’t know could ache. But my work is not done yet. Through half closed eyes I finally see the Red Cross Volunteer wheeling a blood stained stretcher for the injured nurses crammed into the Prado-cum-Ambulance that I have parked at the Mulago Hospital Casualty Ambulance area. One of the nurses has multiple rib fractures ( I don’t know how many), another has head injury with raccoon eyes and multiple lacerations over her very puffy face, another has severe back pain and lacerations on her legs, the fourth is complaining of chest pain with dyspnoea and the fifth nurse is supposedly “okay”.

My story starts on 9^th May 2013. After a morning meeting that day, I found myself the designated driver of a newly donated vehicle of the Uganda Nurses and Midwives Union (UNMU) that would be transporting the who-is-who of Nursing in Uganda for a combined celebration of Florence Nightingale’s birthday (Destrebecq & Belotti, 2010; Hayes & Ball, 2012), the Uganda Nurses Annual Scientific Conference and the International Nurses Day Celebration in Gulu district.

You see I was not even the Organization’s Professional driver but the Program Coordinator for Uganda Wellness Centre. The actual driver was on suspension following some disciplinary issues. We had planned for a 3:00 pm departure from Kampala, however, something at the service station about “mechanical fault with suspension system that had to be fixed before the journey” delayed us. There was no opting out. My passengers, you see, were the who-is-who of Nursing in Uganda (UNMU President and the Commissioner Health Services Nursing MoH et al).  I literary had the opening ceremony with me.  

7:30 pm, we were all set. Luggage and conference materials packed securely on this new monster and enough excitement to last the next 5-6 hours of travel.  It took us nearly 2 hours to do the 10 minute Mulago – Bwaise – Kawempe stretch but that didn’t dampen our spirits. The radio speakers were blaring Congo’s best lingala KoffiOlomide, JP Mpiana etc

By 12:30 am we were at the Gaaga bus stop-over near a Super market in Migyera town for a short break. However, 20 minutes later, as I eased the car back onto the Highway, the loudest hoot I ever heard followed by a succession of flashing lights nearly made me jump out of my skin!! At over 120km per hours, this huge bus was flying over the narrow highway oblivious of all other road users. I watched its tail lights grow smaller and smaller, as the discussion in our car took a new turn - Road safety!!

These buses are notoriously reckless and everyone mentioned at least a couple of different highway accidents involving buses. I had a flashback of the 2010 accident where Hon. Prof. Ogenga Latigo’s car was knocked and a young University student was killed. We condemned all the fears of accident in the name of Jesus and drove on.

Five minutes later, as we approach a small town, something is amiss. A small crowd has gathered around a huge odd looking shape. As we draw closer we cannot believe our eyes!! The same bus that whizzed past us at Migyera is now lying upside down, half inside a house by the road side. A child who was fast asleep in the house had been instantly killed. It was dark, the passengers are screaming, some wailing, others trying to pull themselves out of the bus wreckage-total chaos!

One of the Town locals tells us the driver swerved to avoid a head-on collision with a truck driving on the wrong side of the road. That explained why the bus lay overturned about twenty meters on the right side of the road. You see our neighbors, South Sudan and DR Congo, drive on the right unlike us. (Business insider September 2014)[i]. Thankfully a police patrol vehicle arrived 5 minutes after us. We were confient they would sort the situation out, and went on our way.

However, about 20 minutes after we receive a call from the UNMU General Secretary informing us that some of the Nurses he expected from Mbarara were involved in an accident around Migyera trading center. Some, he said, were injured, one was missing and presumed dead. There was still no ambulance on site and could we try to find and assist them? It was the same scene we had just left, and we had to turn back. By the time we got there, all passengers had been put on another bus heading for Kampala. Some of the patients, however, required medical attention. The nearest Health center was locked. My original Gulu bound passengers had to disembark-we were scooping and running back to Mulago hospital in Kampala.

In Mulago hospital, I joined the casualty team in stabilizing the nurses before driving back to Migyera town. We finally got to Gulu town at 8.30 am. However, other than missing the 5 nurses ( who all recovered well), we had a wonderful conference and commemoration. And I was able to make my presentation on “the relevance of nursing research in Uganda in the 21^st century” at 11.00 am.

Uganda does not have a structured EMS system. However, a lot of work is being done in the Ministry of Health for the start of the Üganda National Ambulance service”. We will give details about this as and when they unfold.

However, until then, prevention is our best “treatment”

REFERENCE

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[i]South Sudan Bus Crash Kills At Least 32, Mainly Ugandans: Reuters: SEP. 29, 2014, 10:38 AM, 26, JUBA (Reuters) - At least 32 people were killed and 10 seriously injured when a bus collided with a cargo truck in southern South Sudan, hospital officials said on Monday. Officials said it was still not clear what caused the accident early on Monday morning on a road that links the capital of South Sudan, Juba, to Uganda. Police spokesman James Monday Enocka told a news conference the majority of the dead were Ugandan citizens. Traffic accidents are common in the world's newest country, where buses are the main form of public transport between towns and roads are often poor. http://www.businessinsider.com/r-south-sudan-bus-crash-kills-at-least-32-mainly-ugandans-2014-9

By Cliff Aliga Asher