MCM Hospital Addis Ababa

The course lasted around five weeks, with set teaching days, exercises and placements, where our 20 students, including five first aiders from the embassy, would practice what they had learned. The course covered all aspects of immediate emergency response and medical care at the scene of an incident. We focused on road traffic collisions, building site injuries, burns and stab wounds, the four main causes of injury or death in Ethiopia.

Many of the students had never used stethoscopes, spine boards, administered fluids, or even worn gloves, so for some it was a steep learning curve. All of the lessons were backed up by realistic exercises; I had previously convinced the embassy to purchase casualty makeup, fake blood and wounds, dummies and a smoke generator to add realism to the exercises I ran at the embassy. Post very kindly allowed me to use the equipment for the training at the hospital and it really did work well.

In addition to working with medical staff, drivers were taught how to check and prepare their vehicles before use, then taken on driving assessments to gauge their level of skill. They had to learn to assist medics at the scene and drive and listen to what the nurse or doctor was telling them, so that they did not further injure the casualties by driving quickly over the uneven roads in Addis.

Running the course improved the skill of nurses, drivers and doctors and helped to forge a lasting link with the main hospital in Addis Ababa. It also helped build confidence in the medical system and what it could offer in the event of an emergency. Five of our own first aid trained staff were included on the course and in addition to learning more advanced skills they learned how to link with the hospital and work as medical support for the embassy doctor.

Learning the basics can mean the difference between life and death in some situations. If someone stops breathing, or suffers a catastrophic bleed, they may die a long time before an ambulance arrives. Learning the skills of CPR (cardio pulmonary resuscitation) and haemorrhage control will give you the opportunity to save a life and who would not want to do that.

The link with the hospital and the training was put to the test two days before I left Addis. I was actually unpacking my medical trauma bag, when someone said there had been an accident on the embassy compound. A tree surgeon had managed to cut through his safety rope and fallen eight meters from a tree onto hard ground. When I arrived at the scene the casualty was in considerable pain and it took a little while to calm him. Without needing to ask, our first aid trained guards helped at the scene, called the ambulance from the MCM hospital and assisted in preparing the casualty for transport to the trauma unit. The diagnosis at the hospital was that he had fractured four vertebrae. I have been advised since that the injured man is now back at work and able to continue to earn money and put food on the table for his family. The diagnosis, had he been bundled into a taxi, is now unthinkable.