The service of
providing anaesthesia in Mengo Hospital is as old as the founding of Mengo
Hospital in 1897.Anaethesia was first administered to patients by Katherine
Timpson who later became Mrs. Katherine Cook.
Having
been a Nurse/Midwife she began administering anaesthesia in 1897 as an
Anaesthetist. She was basically giving chloroform and Ether on an open mask.
Chloroform or Ethyl chloride were given from a bottle onto a “rag” mask.
Tragedies or mortality was relatively high as it was
risky giving anaesthetics without experience and specific training and skills in
anaesthesia.
The medical officers during that
era then took over and started giving anaesthetics but still needed more
knowledge and training in anaesthesia.
Mengo Hospital was the first
hospital to use anaesthetics in Uganda and in the East and Central Africa.
The invention of the E.M.O
vapourise (by Epstein, Mascintosh at Oxford University) in Britain helped
improve anaesthesia in Mengo.
Chloroform condemned widely now
by anaesthetists was the only way forward in obstetrics and gynaecology.
The anesthetic services improve
in late 1970’s when Mengo Hospital started having trained Anaesthetists, but
E.M.O’s had been delivered earlier and used by trained Nurses/Midwives,
supervised by Medical Officers.
Later, the Boyles Anesthetic
Machines were introduced, improving services especially in Paediatric surgery.
Two trained Anaesthetic
Assistants provided anaesthesia and they also began giving regional anaesthesia
(especially spinal anaestheisa).
STAFFING
Senior
Anaesthetic Officers.
2
Anesthetic
officers
2
These four above are full time
anaesthetists: There are 3 part-time anaesthetic officers. This gives a total
of seven anaesthetists covering four theatres on a 24 hour basis.
DEPARTMENT OF ANAESTHESIA
Administering anaesthesia to
patients. Disciplines covered are:
Surgery
Paediatrics
Opthalmology
E.N.T.
Urology
Gynaecology
& obstetrics
Orthopaedic
Dental.
Resuscitation
in neonates delivered with low Apgar scores.
Resuscitation
in disaster emergencies. Preoperative and post-operative assessment of
patients
Maintenance and
repairs of Anesthetic machines.
Teaching
students and staffs on preparing patients for surgery/anaesthesia.
Supervising and
teaching staff and students about Recovery Room.
The care of the
unconscious patients and providing life support is also demonstrated by
Anaesthetists to staff.
Involvement in
treatment of pre-existing conditions in patients to undergo anaesthesia.
NEEDS
OF ANAESTHESIA DEPARTMENT
Introduction
of a well equipped , well staffed and a good functioning INTESIVE CARE UNIT.
Currently we
have no intensive care unit.
We need five
Boyle’s machines preferably those using Ether & Halothane. But those using
Halothane alone are also welcome.
We need five
E.M.O machines and five O.M.V. Anesthetic Vapourisers.
Two DINAMAP (compct
TS monitoring machine or DINAMAP Compact T).
We also
need printer papers for DINAMAP compact T and TS.
Four Oxy
Pulsometers
Aneroid blood
pressure machines and stethescopes (each five in number)
Portex
endotracheal tubes of different sizes.
Five oxygen
concentrators
Five stepdown
transformers for concentrators and oxypusometers
Curved
laryngoscope sets with blades – sizes 1,2,3,4.
Training the
Anaesthetists on the use of monitors and intensive care.
