I took my first weekend of call this past weekend. As I was checking on a patient Sunday evening, I was informed by my junior resident that there was a “mass casualty” bus accident in a nearby town, and the police had called to say they were bringing a number of victims to Kijabe Hospital. No one knew any additional details, and as I arrived in the Casualty unit (Emergency Department), a tour-bus size vehicle pulled through the front gate. Within minutes, injured patients began being rapidly unloaded. As the most senior resident present, I was in charge of triaging, organizing resuscitations and directing patient care until an attending arrived. We very quickly identified several patients needing immediate attention, and moved quickly to stabilize them.
I was amazed at the efficiency of the staff in identifying what needed to be done, getting supplies, and working as a cohesive team to get patients taken care of. Medical interns had turned out by the dozens to assist, nurses not on duty quickly arrived to work on starting IVs, and every attending who was in town showed up to lend a hand. What an amazing team of professionals! Someone brought a portable Sono-Site ultrasound that allowed us to perform FAST exams to look for intra-abdominal fluid in the Emergency Department. Xray techs worked overtime to image cervical spines and fractures, and several operating theaters were rapidly made ready for the injured who required operations.
By last count, we had received 35 patients, some critically ill and all requiring some intervention (an operation, laceration closure, xrays etc). All were stabilized, treated and admitted or discharged as appropriate within 6 hours. That many injured patients arriving at once would overwhelm almost every trauma center, but the team at Kijabe did an excellent job coming together to provide excellent trauma care in a setting with limited resources.