Arua Regional Referral Medical Facility Medical Team Finds Out Quick Belongings Lessons from COVID-19 Reaction
Kampala, 24 September 2020: – For numerous health employees of Arua Regional Recommendation Health Center (ARRH), 24 th April 2020 is a day they will always keep in mind with some nervousness. On that day, the hospital got its first COVID-19 patient and the health employees were not surprisingly terrified.
With the country under total lockdown and news channels beaming with continuous pictures of death and sickness from all over the world, it was now the turn for ARRH health employees to play their part in the long-lasting COVID-19 catastrophe.
” It was a trying time in our work.
Nevertheless, accepting to work came at a fantastic social cost to Okiror and his associates who offered.
Thankfully, this scenario was under consistent watch by the Ministry of Health and with assistance from the World Health Organization (WHO), mitigating interventions were urgently prepared and immediately carried out.
” We had to quickly train health workers on COVID-19 Infection Prevention and Control, offer them with adequate Individual Protective Equipment, and orient them on the present treatment programs for the clients,” says Dr Bongomin Bodo the technical lead for COVID-19 case management at the WHO Nation Office. Of course, previous work and experience from the various Ebola break outs in Uganda had a lot to do with the fast orientation and confidence building.
The deployment of a WHO technical professional in IPC to supply mentorship to the Arua Hospital group considerably enhanced their case management capacity.
With this training and materials support, a number of health workers at ARRH got understanding and self-confidence to deal with COVID-19 clients. They immediately signed up with the response thereafter and the outcomes out of this financial investment fasted to show.
” Once the client is received and the disinfection is done, the patient’s history and baseline criteria are taken. They are informed on the COVID-19 preventive procedures and the day-to-day routine they require to follow to quickly recover such as day-to-day exercising,” describes Mathew Oyoku a medical scientific officer with obvious confidence. “We are now confident about doing this work. We usually hold end-of-shift conferences and conduct weekly Continuing Medical Education sessions to stay educated and to ensure that we secure ourselves properly,” he adds.
In Uganda, all 15 recommendation medical facilities are managing COVID-19 clients. For ARRH, since 21 st September 2020, a cumulative total of 165 patients had been confessed, 126 dealt with and released without any death. The level of care and expert conduct of the ARRH health workers has been valued by the clients and must be a contributing consider their fast recovery.
” They took my history and other vitals and advised me of the preventive measures to take while at the treatment unit.
Preparation of Uganda’s local referral health centers and the health workers to be able to admit and treat COVID-19 clients came at a significant rate to the Government of Uganda, WHO and partners. With COVID-19 causing significant death and suffering all over the world, it is a cost that had actually to be paid.
” With support from DANIDA, DFID and Irish Help, we have actually invested over 2.2 million USD in Infection Avoidance and Control, training of health employees and arrangement of products such as PPEs,” says Dr Yonas Tegegn Woldemariam the WHO Representative in Uganda.
He includes that the financial support by these development partners has not just slowed COVID-19 spread in Uganda, a minimum of for now but significantly boosted the nation’s capability to handle the epidemic. “Detecting the illness is fairly quicker, health employees are more experienced about IPC and client care and the public has a higher understating of what they need to do to avoid and control the spread of COVID-19,” says Dr Tegegn.
As the number of COVID-19 patients increases across the nation, there is a need for training and gearing up of health workers so that they safely and effectively perform their tasks. There is for that reason an immediate requirement for more resource and investment in this location of work.
For ARRH, something is for sure: there is a committed and well-prepared health labor force, ready to serve, care and conserve lives. As Silver Collines Okiror the registered nurse observes: “It has actually not been easy for me, however I have actually gained a great deal of understanding and experience out of this COVID-19 response.”
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