| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this study was to establish if there is a practise of Disaster Triage in Kisii
County. The main focus was to determine if there were Rapid Response Teams in Kisii
County, to analyse their structures and systems and to examine the practise of disaster/
medical triage by the paramedics/ EMTs in Kisii County. The study was undertaken in Kisii
Town, Kisii County. It adopted an exploratory research design which utilised the census
method that aimed at contacting all the 18 paramedics and non probability (purposive)
sampling method for the key informants. Structured interviews, in-depth interview guides
and an observation checklist were used as key data collection instruments. The raw data from
the field was analysed using excel and presented in frequency tables.
On establishing the existence of Rapid Response Teams, the study revealed that they have
different roles that they are expected to play in terms of response to mass casualty incidents.
Worth noting is that the county does not have an ambulance service of its own and therefore
it subcontracted Kenya Red Cross to provide ambulance services and to act as first
responders. The incentive to hire subcontractors is either to reduce costs or to mitigate project
risks. In this way the general contractor could have provided by itself, at lower overall risk.
In regard to structures and systems of the Rapid Response Teams in Kisii County; the study
established that the institutions had structures and systems that they operated under. The
study however notes that, there is need for the county to formulate a structure that
encompasses the institutions who act as first responders and come up with systems that are
tailored to suit emergency response.
As for the practice of Disaster Triage in Kisii County, it was established that all the
respondents knew the basics of a disaster triage that it was a process of sorting casualties in
order of the extent of their injuries in mass casualty incidents to do the most good for all.
Among the RRTS there are the paramedics/ EMTs who sort the casualties and begin initial
treatment. It was established that out of the 9 units (ambulances) that the total emergency
medical technicians worked with. The EMTs had on one occasion or another participated in
the practice of triage. Disaster Triage/medical triage involves color codes. Because of the
magnitude of the casualties, they are tagged, according to the extent of injury they suffered.
88.89% of the total respondents were aware of the correct tagging process/colour coding
while the rest 11.11% were not aware of this. It was noted that not all respondents had
participated in drill exercises 77.78% of the respondents had participated in drills, while
22.22% had not.
In conclusion, though there are RRTs in Kisii County with specific internal structures and
systems. Their is need for the different institutions to have an official working relationship,
with a common structure clearly outlining the role that each would be expected to play in
case a mass casualty incident was to occur. There is also need to constantly train the
paramedics/ EMTS on triaging through regular drill exercises.
The study therefore recommends that the county should have an ambulance service and
paramedics of its own. It further on recommends that an official audit of the county
equipment and personnel to be audited for better response in case disaster strikes. | en_US |
