Aga Khan University Hospital conducts Covid-19 mass patients influx drill to test system capability

Clinical staff including a doctor and nurse attend to a COVID-19 mock patient at Aga Khan University Hospital Nairobi during a drill conducted to test the hospital’s preparedness to respond to COVID-19 mass patient influx.

Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi, AKUH,N, today conducted a COVID-19 mass patient influx drill to test its response plan. The drill involved the simulation of care for up to 30 COVID-19 patients arriving within a span of two hours, with 6 of them requiring care at the intensive care unit (ICU).

Key aspects of the drill included the isolation of the patients at the Accident and Emergency, administering of a COVID-19 test, use of portable x-ray machines to avoid cross contamination transfer to the isolation ward and to the ICU. Others aspects included proper donning and doffing of PPE, decontamination of the patient care areas, activation of the Hospital's command structure among others. All these, while ensuring proper precautions are taken by staff for their protection of both COVID19, non - Covid patients at the Hospital and continuation of care for other patients with emergency and urgent cases.

AKUH is fully-operational and is open to all patients who do need care. The drill is part of AKUH,N' response plan that is anchored on providing quality care to all patients including COVID-19 while ensuring safety of all patients and staff of the Hospital.

As part of measures to enhance the capacity of dealing with a surge of COVID-19 patients, AKUH,N has finalised the setting up of a 100-bed field hospital. 40 beds have been set up and the other 60 are in progress. The Hospital has also adopted an innovation that makes it possible to ventilate two patients with one mechanical ventilator, in a worst-case scenario, where the number of patients requiring mechanical ventilation exceeds the number of available ventilators. This is the first time this innovation is being utilised in sub-Saharan Africa. The Hospital has also designed an equipment for PPE disinfection by using ultraviolent lights.

Other key elements of the plan include:

• Screening of all persons coming to hospital and ensuring that anyone identified to be at risk of COVID -19 is attended to at a dedicated COVID-19 section.

• Setting aside facilities, including an isolation ward, to take care of COVID-19 patients, separate from other patient care areas.

• Constant training of staff to ensure they are up-to-date with global standards (WHO, CDC etc) on caring for COVID-19 patients and the proper use of personal protective equipment.

• Training of the Hospital environmental and transporter services staff on protecting themselves, other staff and non-COVID-19 patients.

• 24-hour decontamination and sterilisation of spaces, surfaces and equipment at the Hospital.

• In response to the Government's directive on wearing masks in public areas, patients and visitors coming to the Hospital should wear masks. AKUH has ordered 9,000 masks for all our staff for their protection.

• AKUH has also instituted social distancing measures including increasing the capacity of waiting areas and limiting the number of visitors coming to the Hospital.

• To serve patients who are unable to come to the Hospital, we have set up a free home delivery service for medications as well as a mobile laboratory for collection of samples at home.

• To ensure continuity of care for patients who are unable to come to the Hospital, we have introduced telemedicine services where our consultants provide consultation via phone and zoom.

• The Hospital's COVID-19 Response Taskforce is meeting daily to review our response plan and adapt to emerging needs.

• Setting up a dedicated hotline (+254 0709931700) manned 24 hours a day by medical professionals to respond to public enquiries on COVID-19.

• Creating a webpage that hosts COVID-19 resources for access by the public.