How Late Is Too Late?

Where I come from from, it is really hard to feign sickness. A lot is required for one to be fully satisfied that you are sick. One of the common tests are food. If you claim to be sick, your behavior during meals will be thoroughly scrutinized and eating habits checked. Why? Our people believe that every form of sickness must come with it loss of appetite. Being taken to the hospital is another big thing. It is seen as a form of luxury that is only sought when one is a step away from death!
This is happening against the backdrop of health being a basic right as gallantly proclaimed in the 2010 Kenyan Constitution and reaffirmed in the Health Act of 2015.

Speaking of emergency, yesterday Monday, November 27, 2023, my heart sunk as I witnessed an emergency situation unfold right before my eyes. With the risen cases of insecurity in Moi University main campus, I had taken my supper early enough then spent some time at the wifi hotspot outside students centre until some minutes past 9 pm. I was making my way to male hostel F wheh I realised some two girls walking behind me. They were murmuring some tunes before they began singing loudly in unison. It was some gospel song if I’m not wrong. They endured probing stares from random students they came across, who were of course puzzled and wondering why they were singing loudly at that hour of the ‘day’.

I was slightly ahead of them, engrossed in my phone while keenly following in on their singing. Few meters ahead they had to part ways. Seemingly they were headed to different hostels. One was continuing with my path to Female Hoste E while the other was branching left to Female Hostel G. Hostel E is just straight after hostel F. The lady branching to G was shouting a “goodnight” to the other. The other one in turn seemed preoccupied. The hostel G lady shouted again “goodnight”. This time round, the recipient acknowledged and replied jokingly, “ni sawa, si nimeskia” and they both burst into a laughter. The caller of goodnight told the other to wish a third lady whom I didn’t get her name, a quick recovery. Probably they lady in question was sick. The hostel E lady replied, “sawa, nitamwambia pole“.

Right before I could myself branch to Hostel F, a procession approached from female hostel E. Some four or so girls were carrying their helpless fellow who was wailing. The carried girl was struggling to breathe and gasping for air, probably under a severe athsma attack. The girl behind me suddenly shouted to the other who had just branched. “Hata ndo huyu!”
What a coincidence! A group of boys was standing in front of the Hostel F discussing that Alejandro Garnacho bicycle goal for Manchester United when the ladies passed. They shouted, “mmepigia ambulance?”
The girls replied they had, and had been told “huko (hostel) ni mbali“, so they had to ferry their patient upto the Academic Highway just opposite hostel H where the ambulance would pick her. It was a few minutes to 10 pm. A small crowd had gathered. A janitor and some two security personnel were there.

The Ambulance was taking eternity to arrive. The girls could no longer hold their ailing fellow. The sick girl lay on the tarmac writhing in pain as she continued to grasp for air and producing a wheezing sound. One of the security suggested that they press down on her chest periodically to force air into her lungs. I couldn’t help but wonder where the hell was the ambulance. Despite the numerous calls that had been made, I personally decided to call the ambulance driver.
As soon as somebody spoke at the other end of the line, I didn’t have the luxury of time. I told whoever it was that “kuna student anaumia hapa opposite hostel H… ukishapita students’ centre, hapa kwa Academic Highway“, giving them the direction as if they were new. I realized that the person on the other end of the line was who my Linguistics lecturer Dr. Emmanuel Satia would describe as a “mature, male adult of Kalenjin descent”. The only part I couldn’t ascertain was whether or not he was of sane mind.

He casually told me, “nimeshaambiwa na janitor“. Nothing was wrong with the janitor already informing him, but I felt he was very relaxed and did not have the urgency of an emergency care provider! He spoke very calmly in a relaxed manner, not like a person driving an ambulance at a neckbreaking speed. It was around 10:20 pm when we finally saw two headlamps illuminate the academic highway from the extreme end. The Ambulance arrived and the driver, a puff man with fat checks, alighted. He opened the rear cabin for the ladies to put in the ailing girl. In the meantime he had a word with the janitor and those security personel. They exchanged words in a foreign language I presumed was Kalenjin. All the girls, I don’t know six or seven of them, were bundled into the ambulance and it sped off.

PHOTO: Moi University Vice Chancellor Prof. Isaac Kosgey launching the university ambulance on 15th May, 2019 / MOI UNIVERSITY WEBSITE

Well, I left the scene walking lazily to my hostel. On my way I googled the Kenya Emergency Medical Care Policy publication by Ministry of Health and the Ground Ambulance Requirements published by Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS). According to the latter, an ambulance is a vehicle used for emergency medical care that provides a driver’s compartment; a patient compartment to accommodate an Emergency Medical Services Provider (EMSP) and at least one patient located on the primary cot so positioned that the primary patient can be given intensive life-support during transit; equipment and supplies for emergency care at the scene as well as during transport; safety, comfort, and avoidance of aggravation of the patient’s injury or illness during transit.
Well that left me with many questions. According to what I saw in the varsity ambulance that just left, the driver was alone. The only medical equipment inside it was a small, red, first aid kit with a white cross on it. There was no Emergency Medical Services Provider (ESMP). Was the patient able to receive life support during the transit? Was there anyone to ensure the patient’s safety, comfort, and to ensure no aggravation of their injury or ilness during transit? This in turn left me wondering, does the school really have an ambulance?

And when they got to the university hospital, was the patient assured of the emergency medical attention she much needed? Personally the last time I visited the facility, I was exhibiting symptoms of a severe malaria. Of course I knew what over- the -counter drugs to purchase, but being a first year fresh from Biology classes in highschool, I saw it fit to be checked by the personnel down there. To my dissapointment, I was diagnosed from a simple stab in the finger and two drops of a reagent, a method my highschool nurse said could at times be very ineffective. I expected a sophisticated laboratory department where all types of samples are thoroughly analyzed before getting to know your ilness. Well, the bespectacled physician that tended to me, a tall man seemingly in his 50s, wrote me a description of some anti malarials, paracetamol and an anti-biotic.

PHOTO: A screengrab of Moi University website during the launch of the university ambulance. According to the website, the ambulance is fully medically equipped with state of the art modern machines.

I made my way to the pharmacy. An aged, bespectacled lady donning a flowing dust coat was manning it. To cut the long story, I left the hospital without any of the prescribed medicine, not even paracetamol, a mere pain killer! That’s how I lost trust in the varsity hospital. Jacob (not his real name), a great friend of mine who is now an alumnus of Moi University, once told me that in here (Moi University), if you don’t take care of your life, you might as well loose it. With that I remembered one of the girls by the ambulance. She was commenting, “na huyu namwambianga avae sweater nzito nzito na haskii“. Well, your health is your responsibility. And needless to say, you should seek healthcare at the earliest chance possible before it’s too late. Which leaves the question: How late is too late?