Lack of emergency medical care ‘deadly’, warn Uis residents

THE death of a toddler led to a peaceful demonstration at Uis by members of the community on Friday to draw attention to the lack of State ambulances.

Two public ambulances are allocated for emergencies at Uis, Omaruru, Omatjete and Okombahe as well as farms and smaller settlements in the surrounding area. The organiser of the demonstration, Conrad Brand, charged that this had contributed to several fatalities in the area.The death of three-year-old Jonald Awarab on Wednesday could have been averted if an ambulance they had been waiting for since 08h00 had arrived sooner than 15h00, claimed Brand.The boy injured his arm on Tuesday when he fell while playing on an old car wreck.He was discharged the same day from the Uis clinic, where he was treated.Complications apparently set in and when Awarab was taken back to the clinic the next morning, he was in a coma.An ambulance was called to take the boy to the hospital at Omaruru, but only arrived at 15h00, half an hour after the child had died.According to Brand, the explanation for the delay given by Dr F Chulu, the Acting Principal Medical Officer in the Omaruru health district, was that one of the region’s two roadworthy ambulances was at Swakopmund for a routine service and the other vehicle had taken a number of patients from Usakos to see a specialist in Windhoek.”As a parent, a resident, a Namibian, how are we supposed to digest something like this?” Brand asked.”That was a life lost that maybe could have been saved.No amount of explanation or remorse could change that …”In the petition handed to Uis Town Council Chairman Fanie van Heerden on Friday, examples of similar incidents were mentioned.On March 17, when a double-cab bakkie had overturned just outside the town killing two people, vehicles of residents, the Police and the Ministry of Agriculture had to be used to transport eight injured passengers to Uis.The three nurses at the clinic needed help from members of the community to treat the unexpected number of patients.One ambulance was in Windhoek and the other had gone to Swakopmund at the time.Three injured girls were taken to Omaruru by private vehicle, but one girl had died on the way.Only nine hours after the accident the other five patients, some seriously injured, arrived at Omaruru hospital, transported by the ambulance that had returned from Windhoek.Uis is a gateway to tourist attractions such as Twyfelfontein and Etosha, the petition reads.While tourism was its main source of revenue, facilities at the clinic at Uis could offer only very basic medical services.At the soonest, an ambulance from Omaruru can reach Uis in some two and a half hours.Over weekends and after hours, nurses have to be picked up at their homes to deal with emergencies, which causes a further delay.Furthermore, medicines for patients with chronic illnesses often reached Uis late and HIV-positive patients had to fork out N$120 to travel to Omaruru and back for anti-retroviral treatment.Doctors and a dentist that used to treat patients at Uis from time to time were also no longer visiting.Brand said the community wanted the petition to be channelled to the highest authority and appealed for urgent feedback.The organiser of the demonstration, Conrad Brand, charged that this had contributed to several fatalities in the area.The death of three-year-old Jonald Awarab on Wednesday could have been averted if an ambulance they had been waiting for since 08h00 had arrived sooner than 15h00, claimed Brand.The boy injured his arm on Tuesday when he fell while playing on an old car wreck.He was discharged the same day from the Uis clinic, where he was treated.Complications apparently set in and when Awarab was taken back to the clinic the next morning, he was in a coma.An ambulance was called to take the boy to the hospital at Omaruru, but only arrived at 15h00, half an hour after the child had died.According to Brand, the explanation for the delay given by Dr F Chulu, the Acting Principal Medical Officer in the Omaruru health district, was that one of the region’s two roadworthy ambulances was at Swakopmund for a routine service and the other vehicle had taken a number of patients from Usakos to see a specialist in Windhoek.”As a parent, a resident, a Namibian, how are we supposed to digest something like this?” Brand asked.”That was a life lost that maybe could have been saved.No amount of explanation or remorse could change that …”In the petition handed to Uis Town Council Chairman Fanie van Heerden on Friday, examples of similar incidents were mentioned.On March 17, when a double-cab bakkie had overturned just outside the town killing two people, vehicles of residents, the Police and the Ministry of Agriculture had to be used to transport eight injured passengers to Uis.The three nurses at the clinic needed help from members of the community to treat the unexpected number of patients.One ambulance was in Windhoek and the other had gone to Swakopmund at the time.Three injured girls were taken to Omaruru by private vehicle, but one girl had died on the way.Only nine hours after the accident the other five patients, some seriously injured, arrived at Omaruru hospital, transported by the ambulance that had returned from Windhoek.Uis is a gateway to tourist attractions such as Twyfelfontein and Etosha, the petition reads.While tourism was its main source of revenue, facilities at the clinic at Uis could offer only very basic medical services.At the soonest, an ambulance from Omaruru can reach Uis in some two and a half hours.Over weekends and after hours, nurses have to be picked up at their homes to deal with emergencies, which causes a further delay.Furthermore, medicines for patients with chronic illnesses often reached Uis late and HIV-positive patients had to fork out N$120 to travel to Omaruru and back for anti-retroviral treatment.Doctors and a dentist that used to treat patients at Uis from time to time were also no longer visiting.Brand said the community wanted the petition to be channelled to the highest authority and appealed for urgent feedback.