Nurses in Disasters
“A call to Action-Uganda!!”
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| www.newvision.co.ug |
No one could have imagined the
devastation of the July 2010 Kampala bombings. Uganda will always remember that
evening when young innocent men and women out to watch the 2010 Soccer World
Cup final were heartlessly murdered. The incident sent painful ripples through
the country and the World. And in Mulago Hospital where majority of the Victims
were managed, we who were there that evening will never ever forget the horror
of it and how unprepared we were as individuals, as a hospital and as a
country.
In Disaster
situations and even Mass Casualty incidents, Emergency Departments everywhere
anticipate to be flooded with not only Victims but also volunteers, patient’s
relatives, journalists, even idle onlookers. Without proper planning and
organisation, this can worsen an already strained situation and frustrate
management efforts.
In Uganda, Mass
Casualty Incidents (MCIs) are common and often result from Motor Vehicle
Accidents (MVAs), Building collapses, homicide, political violence etc.
Experiences in these situations, have taught us that the public can and will
respond and try to participate in meaningful roles. Thousands of skilled and
unskilled responders will often come to Emergency units or other sites willingly
offering to help in any way that they can.
In all this, however,
what is the role of the nurse? Are nurses prepared to take on and participate
in more demanding roles? Are we trained enough? Do we know what is expected of
us? Those are questions I often ask myself.
Nurses form the
biggest part of the health workforce. When hospitals are suddenly flooded
during disaster situations, they can and should play important roles!
They can organize and supervise teams, triage victims, plan, implement and evaluate
patient care, coordinate response plans and talk to relatives of victims and
even the media amongst other roles.
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| A Nursing Triage Station at the Emergency Ward in a Ugandan Hospital |
In the weeks that
followed the July 2010 Kampala, terror attacks, the department of Psychiatry at
Mulago Hospital organized a review of all staff that participated in the direct
managements of patients, of which nurses were the majority. These nurses were
responsible for the initial management of the victims and were predisposed to
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This particular group of nurses discussed the
various experiences they had gone through in previous MCIs, and especially the
need for regular psychiatric visits, and also more training for nurses in
disaster management.
Nurses must,
therefore, avail themselves for education and training to ensure that they are
knowledgeable about the most current and appropriate care protocols.
Emergency nurse must
focus on safety, and must be competent and knowledgeable to function during
disaster situations where the number of people affected is so high that the
usual community resources available are inadequate to manage the response. With
increased awareness of this need, several resources are currently available for
nursing education on the role of an emergency nurse in disaster situations
including biological, chemical warfare etc…
Call to Action!
As Uganda moves towards developing a National
Ambulance system and hospitals increasingly driven to develop Disaster
Management Plans, nurses should not sit back.
Our purpose is to help set guidance for the Profession
in Disaster Management. As Emergency Nurses plan their Vision, nurses and
nursing students must be educated properly in handling Disasters to ensure that
they can prepared to participate in the effective management of any such future
events.
By Josephine Nabulime
(The writer is a Disaster &
Emergency Nurse, And Chairperson of the Disaster Management Committee, Emergency
Medicine Uganda)
