Casualties worry medics at Fort Portal hospital

Management of Fort Portal Regional hospital is overwhelmed by the rampant accident cases at the facility.
Some of the accidents are as a result of reckless drivers and boda boda cyclists.
According to the senior hospital administrator at Fort Portal regional referral hospital, Mr Louis Muhindo, majority of the patients are casualties.
“On a monthly basis, we receive more than 30 accident victims and they are usually caused by motorcycles. Motorcycles are now very many and most of the riders have driving permits but they are not formally trained and ride at a high speed causing accidents,” he told Daily Monitor in an interview yesterday.
He said government needs to impose strict laws on boda boda riders if they are to minimise accidents.
Mr Muhindo, however, said most casualties have head injuries, that require CT scan and imaging, which the hospital lacks.
He appealed to the Ministry of Health and partners to think about procuring CT scans for all regional referrals countrywide.
“Fort Portal regional referral hospital serves more than 10 districts and it is at the centre of four highways.
“The nearest CT scan is in Mbarara so our patients with head injuries that need those services are either referred to Mbarara or Kampala,” he said.
Mbarara is about three hours away from Fort Portal while Kampala is a five-hour drive.
He, however, said this is costly and sometimes patients die before they get those services.
The Senior Nursing officer-in-charge of the surgical ward, Ms Joyce Mbambu, said they received 22 cases of head and spinal cord injuries in January.
“Head and spinal cord injuries are the most complicated cases you can find in the ward and most of the accident patients who die are due to these two cases,” she said.
According to Healthline, an online publication, a CT scan uses computers and rotating x-ray machines to create cross-sectional images of the body.
These images provide more detailed information than normal X-ray images. They show the soft tissues, blood vessels, and bones in various parts of the body. A CT scan may be used to visualise the head, shoulders, spine, heart, abdomen, knee and chest.
Ms Mbambu said severe injuries and related complicated injuries cause morbidity.

Strategy on accidents
The Rwenzori West regional traffic officer, Mr Gamal Abdulkadri, said they are implementing a strategy of 3Es (Engagement, Education and Enforcement) to ensure that these accidents are minimised.
“The truth is that road traffic accidents are very high. We are now engaging the public to ensure that they use the road responsibly. It is everyone’s responsibility to keep safe,” he said.
Mr Abdulkadri said it is an offence to load more than one person on a boda boda.
“I have always seen parents sending their children alone on a boda boda and you find they are five loaded on one motorcycle hence causing accidents because most of them ride at a high speed,” he added.

Police report
According to police report of 2018, close to 3,500 people were killed in road accidents.
However, Rwenzori West regional traffic officer Gamal Abdulkadri said most of the road accidents, especially those caused by motorcycles are not reported at police and appealed to road users to comply with the traffic rules.