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Problems Associated With Road Traffic Injuries

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1.2. Problem Statement
In Makueni County a considerable burden of diseases is caused by injuries and other life threatening emergencies. Over two hundred patients with road traffic injuries are received in the health facilities for definitive treatment in a year as per the occurrence register at the County Ambulance Call Centre. The accidents are mainly along the major roads such as Nairobi-Mombasa highway, Makindu-Wote road and Wote-Machakos roads. Although the patients who need emergency care are often handled by the bystanders who come to their aid, some of the victims die on the scene of the accident while others on transit to health facilities. Sometimes, the patients transferred to the health facilities cannot be managed satisfactorily and about a quarter of them require secondary urgent transfer to other health facilities either due lack of facilities or expertise. This often leads to a tremendous loss of time, waste of resources, lack of effectiveness; hence aggravating the injuries sustained resulting to complications or even death. The crash related complications often result to long hospital delays and hence exert pressure on hospital facilities.
The research is therefore aimed at determining the status of pre-hospital emergency care for persons experiencing road traffic injuries and will in turn help to improve the quality of emergency medical services, save life, avert disability and other complications resulting from these emergencies.
1.3. Purpose of the

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