Context…
GlenZ Dignity Hospital, where the Emergency Medical Services Vehicle (EMSV) will be stationed, is situated in Mafubira subcounty, Jinja Northern Division, in Jinja City, 3 miles from the source of the River Nile. Mafubira sits at an elevation on None (0 ft) above sea level and enjoys a tropical rainforest climate with temperatures averaging 23.23ºC (73.81ºF). It receives 293.45 (80.4%) rainy days in a year with 79.43% humidity.
Jinja is a centre for industry including sugar mills, manufacturing businesses and general business. There is a high risk of accidents in all these businesses. The hospital is situated in a densely populated community and is at the intersection of the 11 Busoga sub region districts. Busoga sub region is the poorest sub region in Uganda, and the patient traffic through the hospital is primarily low-income earners. The cases requiring referrals to the regional and national referral hospitals in Jinja and Kampala respectively require a fully equipped, and modern ambulance unit with emergency life support equipment staffed by trained personnel.
Regardless of the economic status of accident victims and patients, Jinja is intersected by the main route between Kampala and Kenya. It deals with an extremely heavy flow of traffic on a daily basis with frequent extremely serious and often fatal motor vehicle accidents. There is a desperate need for such a vehicle to deal with these issues.
The area has a cross representation of Christians, Indigenous religions and Muslims. Uganda is politically stable with the ruling party (NRM) being in power under the same President since 1986.
Vision…
To provide an emergency medical service via a well-equipped Emergency Medical Service Vehicle operational in the Jinja region of Uganda.
Aim…
The project seeks to procure an (EMSV), a specially equipped ambulance with capacity to provide out-of-hospital emergency care.
Objectives…
- Purchase of EMSV, construct garage, upskilling of paramedics and emergency medical technicians and training of associated first aid responders within the greater Jinja community. Essential equipment includes but is not limited to:
- Airway & ventilation equipment
- Vascular equipment (catheters, syringes, tourniquets etc)
- Defibrillator
- Cardiac pacemaker
- Nebulizer
- Glucometer
- Oxygen
- Respirator
- Blood pressure device
- Epi pens
- Oral glucose
- Nitroglycerin
- Activate the incident command system per scenario or hazard with a specific plan or policies and procedures within the 15 minutes notification.
- Maintain a continuous on scene resource needs and request. Necessary resources through proper channels as established through the operational area. (Health care and medical response and recovery coordination)
- Prepare the organisation for continuous provision of essential services to clients and staff.
Project outline
Stage 1 By July 2025
- Purchase purpose designed vehicle.
- Engage with St John’s Uganda or similar organisations, for provision of supplementary training of paramedics and emergency medical technicians.
- Engage qualified paramedics and emergency medical trained personnel, sourced locally. In addition to medical training, which is a prerequisite for these roles, training agencies run comprehensive training courses for paramedics and emergency medical technicians.
- Develop communication base.
- Construct garage for vehicle.
Stage 2 By December 2025
- Engage and train emergency responders in village areas and local industries within the region with the assistance of St John’s Uganda or other providers.
- Build relationships with hospitals, doctors, clinics
Stage 3: In the second year
- Evaluate demands for the EMSV.
- Constant professional development for paramedics and emergency responders.
Beneficiaries
The population of Greater Jinja will benefit from the purchase and operation of an Emergency Response Medical Vehicle. Many people die or are seriously injured due to lack of rapid response by trained personnel. The EMSV will be engaged to transfer critically ill people as well as being first responders on site to manage emergency situations.
All work undertaken from purchasing the vehicle to operating it and responding to incidents, will be undertaken by local people
Staffing of EMSV
A team of one Emergency Medical Technician and one Paramedic on an 8-hour rotating roster will staff the EMSV.
Personnel trained in emergency medical procedures will be sourced from within Uganda by local training institutions. Once the initial team of 6 are upskilled, they will deliver training to first responders within industries, towns and villages.
You can help…
If you wish to contribute to the setup of this vital emergency medical service by means of a well-equipped EMSV, to save lives in this very busy and high-risk area of Uganda, please click on “Donate to this Project” on the right sidebar. Thank you!
All gifts are tax deductible and will benefit this project in their entirety except for bank fees.
