Giving Oxygen to
Emergency Patients in Kenya
The ability to deliver oxygen therapy is the cornerstone of the overall approach to managing patients during an emergency, and it has implications for the functioning of the entire system. According to the WHO, oxygen therapy is recommended for all severe and critically ill patients. For these reasons, emergency care centres should be equipped with functioning oxygen systems, including single‐use oxygen delivery interfaces and pulse oximeters.
In a recent survey of emergency care centres across Kenya, over 30% of the facilities did not have a regular supply of oxygen. Close to 90% of those with oxygen did not have piped oxygen in the emergency department and delivered oxygen directly from the tanks to the patient.
Pipeline intra‐hospital oxygen distribution networks are helpful to supply oxygen at high pressure to equipment such as anaesthetic machines and ventilators or directly connected to patients with a flow-meter and tubing. A key advantage of pipeline systems is that they allow the distribution of oxygen to multiple patients simultaneously and obviate the need for handling and transporting heavy cylinders between hospital wards.
Installation Of Oxygen Gas Manifolds In Emergency Care Centres
“We now have piped oxygen for more patients in the emergency department and don’t have to keep rationing the oxygen for patients who need it” Emergency Nurse, Machakos Level 5 Hospital
Our oxygen gas manifolds are designed to boost capacity of emergency departments to supply the correct pressure and volume of oxygen from gas cylinders located outside the building through a pipeline system to the emergency department. The typical medical oxygen manifold commonly consists of four (4) sources and a manual changeover from empty source to full source and five (5) oxygen terminal outlets (sockets) installed in the emergency department. This boosts the capacity to deliver oxygen therapy from 1 oxygen tank per patient to 1 oxygen tank for up to 10 patients simultaneously.
The oxygen manifolds are specifically designed for optimal functionality and reliability, and offer users several very tangible advantages:
- Closed metal box, anti‐interference.
- The pressure of oxygen resource is stable and adjustable
- Pressure gauge displays make it easy to plan for refiling of the oxygen cylinders
- Continuous oxygen supply
- Multiple patients can receive oxygen simultaneously from one source
Help us do more
Everyday, more and more patients are presenting to emergency care centres across Kenya requiring oxygen. We have already installed Oxygen Gas Manifolds in the emergency departments at the following facilities;
- Machakos Level 5 Hospital
- Thika Level 5 Hospital
- Kajiado County Referral Hospital
- Turkana County Referral Hospital
- Alupe Sub-County Hospital (Busia County)
- Makindu Level 4 Hospital (Makueni County)
- Mbagathi Level 5 Hospital (Nairobi County)
- Iten County Referral Hospital (Elgeyo Marakwet County)
- JM Kariuki Memorial County Referral Hospital (Nyandarua County)
These were the priority areas due to the large patient volumes the see in the emergency department but we continue to seek additional support to install the manifolds in many more emergency departments that are in need.
Each Oxygen Gas Manifold costs approximately $ 6,000 and can be installed in 5 days. Your support will go a long way in ensuring emergency care centres across Kenya can handle emergency cases requiring oxygen simultaneously and help save more lives.
For more details on this and how you can be part of our efforts to strengthen emergency care in Kenya, click the button below or send us an email at emkf@emkfoundation.org or call us on 020 2100054 or 0710 633 855
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