By Arnold Ageta
Speeding ambulances with their sirens filled the air as one after another arrived and departed from Nyamira County Referral Hospital, dropping off and then leaving to collect more students from St. Joseph Kemasare and Nyameru secondary schools who were involved in a road accident in the early hours of Sunday morning.
As the ambulances made their way to the hospital, parents of students from both schools started arriving one by one, fearing for the lives of their children who had left home that fateful day.
Doctors, nurses, and clinicians at the Accident and Emergency Unit, who were overwhelmed by the large number of patients, recalled more medical staff who were on leave and off duty to save lives.
Soaked in blood, the students were rushed into the hospital’s emergency section for examination and treatment.
Residents of Nyamira turned up in large numbers at the hospital to join parents who had come to confirm the conditions of their children involved in the accident on their way to Kisumu to attend the Nyanza region music festivals.
According to a press statement issued by the County’s CECM for Health Services, Dr. Donald Mogoi, on Sunday morning, the hospital received 43 students and 6 teachers.
“Twenty-five students and one teacher have various injuries. Of the injured, five have moderate maxillofacial injuries,” said Dr. Mogoi.
The County Director of Medical Services, Dr. Jared Oeba, while addressing the media at the hospital, confirmed that all students who were in the school bus were ferried to the hospital where they are receiving treatment.
“By Sunday afternoon, 20 students and five teachers were treated and discharged,” he told the media. “We are admitting 23 students who have severe injuries and we would like to report that we have not lost any lives.”
The driver of the bus and Kemasare’s deputy principal sustained critical injuries to their heads and necks and are currently in ICU, but they are out of danger according to the hospital’s medical superintendent.
Dr. Angela Ogendi, the medical superintendent, said that as soon as they received the report of the accident, they mobilized their doctors and other medical staff, including those who were on leave and off duty.
“So far we have not experienced any strain because all the students have been examined and treated accordingly,” she confirmed.
She assured parents that they have enough medical supplies and capacity to attend to their children as they start the recovery process.
On Monday morning, West Mugirango MP Stephen Mogaka visited the students at the hospital, accompanied by Florence Obung’a, Nyamira South deputy county commissioner, and other county and national government officials.
Addressing the media at the hospital, Stephen Mogaka expressed regret that students from the two schools who were headed to Kisumu for extracurricular activities were involved in an accident.
“I thank both the county government of Nyamira and the national government for coordinating and responding extremely fast to the extent that most of the students were treated and went back home,” he said. “We have just gone around the wards to see those who were admitted, and it is our hope that gradually all of them will recover and go home.”
He appreciated the hospital management for handling the overwhelming number of casualties and the medical staff who were not on duty but responded to the emergency call to help the situation.
Mogaka called for an investigation into the root cause of the accident to prevent further accidents.
Students who were not injured were put on a counseling program because many of them were still in shock.
“I wish a quick recovery to the deputy principal and the driver who are still in ICU,” he concluded.
