E-Plus Medical Services on Monday, July 27, announed the acquisition and commissioning of two portable isolation chambers to protect suspected Covid-19 patients and medical personel.
This comes at a time when the country is strained by the increasing rate of positive coronavirus cases being registered on daily basis and an increase in a number of healthcare providers contracting the virus.
"They will be part of our advanced cardiac life support ambulance equipment. E-plus has plans to equip all its advanced cardiac life support units with the portable isolation chambers," Susan Ng’ong’a, E-Plus Managing Director remarked.
With the rising cases of Covid-19 infection transmission among the frontline responders, the state-of-the-art equipment will help to safely evacuate suspected and confirmed cases of Covid-19.
Kenya total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases currently stands at 17,975, 285 fatalities and 7,833 recoveries - with the latter occassioned by the swift efforts of medical personnel.
Over 400 health workers have tested positive for Covid-19 since the first case of the novel coronavirus was reported in March.
E-Plus has been in the forefront undertaking evacuations to assist the government in Covid-19 mitigation efforts.
The portable isolation chamber will now be part of E-Plus' advanced cardiac life support ambulance equipment.
Ng'on'ga further announced that plans were underway to equip all their advanced cardiac life support units with the life-saving chamber.
Speaking during the commissioning session, the MD explained the new functions of the new equipment, describing it as a single patient unit that is designed to transport a contaminated patient or a patient with a risk of biological contamination so as to aid in reducing the risk of contamination during evacuation.
The unit also protects the external environment from any contamination that can occur during transportation of a patient.
“As key players in the health sector, especially in the area of Emergency Medical Services provision, we have taken up the challenge to ensure that we play a key role in reducing the spread of the novel disease,” she added.
Dr Christine Memusi, the Medical Director for E-Plus while demonstrating the functionality of the unit said that the portable isolation chambers work in negative pressures for the transport of contaminated patients, and can also work to assist patients that might be immunocompromised.
E-Plus paramedics and ambulance operators were taken through a rigorous training session on the use of the newly acquired equipment, with additional sessions to be undertaken before deployment.
In May 2020, E-Plus launched its telemedicine platform, eDoc where patients can access clinical services virtually.
E-Plus is the largest private Emergency Medical Services and pre-hospital care provider in the East and Central Africa, with 128 fleet fully equipped state-of-the-art ambulances.
Their latest equipment will go along way in minimising the risks faced by medical personnel deployed in the frontlines.
During President Uhuru Kenyatta's latest address to the nation, he made it clear that winning the war against the pandemic would require a combined effort from all stakeholders including medics.