Vision for Trauma Care in Africa (VTCA), based in Mukono Municipality, has trained and equipped hundreds of boda boda riders in emergency care, road safety, and other topics since its inception.
I recently spoke with Muwaga Hannington, the organisation’s Team Leader, who told me about what they do and have been doing for nearly a decade.
Here’s how he answered my questions.
First, tell us who you are.
I am Muwaga Hannington, Team Leader at Vision for Trauma Care in Africa (VTCA). I am a qualified orthopaedic and emergency care practitioner who has been in practice since 2014 and works from Mukono.
You founded VTCA. What do you do in the community?
We founded VTCA after an experience with cases. These were cases of road crashes. I took the passion to advocate for road safety and how best we can help the victims once they get in a crash. So, my team and I are currently serving Mukono while also spreading road safety awareness throughout the country.
How many cases (crash victims) have you handled since you began?
We have handled numerous cases. Every day, five people are reported to a hospital’s emergency department, which is where I practice.
What are their conditions upon arrival at the facility?
What is heartbreaking is the patient’s current condition. Bystanders sometimes carry these patients in alarming ways. Some patients arrive unprepared to stop the bleeding. Others simply carry the fractures, which were previously stable but exacerbated by how he or she was evacuated. So the state in which a patient arrives at the emergency department is not appealing. The people who handle them are not professionals, and even if they are, they are limited in their capabilities.
We see a gap and determine how best to evacuate a victim from the scene of a crash.
Is there anything you are doing to try to close these gaps so that patients referred here and elsewhere get the best possible care?
Yes. We have taken steps to address this. One, we provided health education to bystanders and those assisting in the rescue of the victims. We are training. I am telling them how to handle this problem the next time.
Two, because boda bodas are the most vulnerable people and their primary mode of transportation, we have trained them in basic trauma management, best transportation practices, airway management, fracture mobilization, and bleeding control techniques. How best they can make decisions when a crash happens?
How many boda bodas have been trained?
We began with a cohort within the Mukono municipality. We trained 225 boda-boda riders and provided them with first aid kits to help them carry out their duties. These boda bodas are at various stages of development, and they serve the community while also benefiting themselves.
What challenges have they shared with you in dealing with this situation?
I tried to interact with the majority of them under their body, “Mukono boda boda first aiders.” They have faced the challenge of a lack of supplies like gloves and bandages, and they say they end up using their hands.
Two, when they refer patients, particularly to private clinics, officers claim they are the same people who caused the crash. We find there is no security for them. Another thing they tell me is that when a patient is in a bad condition, they are asked to deposit a patient to be worked on, and if they refer to a government facility, they are told to buy gloves, etc., and that they (the first responders) find it a little biased because they are doing volunteer work.
Are these challenges similar to those you face within the organization?
They are not different. Because we are the sole provider of supplies, we occasionally run out, but we have always relied on others and partners for assistance with supplies such as gloves and bandages. So the challenges are not unique. We asked Mukono district to assist us, and they promised to do so once the budget was passed.
You have mentioned the lack of Good Samaritan Law. What do you think should happen?
First and foremost, we must inform the community about the law, which I am confident the majority of us are unaware of, as well as what it means to rescue someone. Two, we need to engage our policymakers, telling them that people must be protected. Also, we must ensure that the facilities or hospitals where victims are taken understand that they are helping others by saving someone is life.
You seem to be doing many works that need to get the attention of the government. Could there be a plan to share with them a concept of what you do, have done as far as road safety and emergency care are concerned?
Yes. There is a plan to share because we need to reduce road accidents. We should stop talking about “bad driving” and “stop the blame game” and instead involve the youth. The government should involve us in developing the formula for road infrastructure. We also need to deal with behavioural change, which requires frequent communication with different people, schools, and road safety education.
We know that crashes happen, but what happens next? I would like to thank the government for attempting to put ambulances on the roads with the assistance of the Red Cross, but they are insufficient. I can get a crash along the Kampala-Jinja highway and see how quickly and effectively an evacuation occurs. Someone is involved in a crash in Amuru, up country; an ambulance from Kampala takes several hours to arrive.
We need to develop aeromedical ambulances and planes. Our minister recently experienced a problem, but the plane that evacuated him was not aeromedical. The government is training emergency medical practitioners, which is fine. So we need to equip these health centers and make them functional, not just buildings.
Every highway should have a functioning trauma centre. We have Masaka, Nkozi, Mityana, and Mubende in Kawolo and Mulago, respectively.
You have been involved with boda bodas for quite some time, and I am not sure if you have had the opportunity to teach team road safety. When you look at those who die, you will notice that those who did not wear helmets are either killed or injured; the same is true for drivers and passengers who abuse seatbelts. What exactly do you tell them?
When we select boda bodas for training, we use certain criteria. One must have a valid riding permit, a reflective jacket, and a helmet. We also tell them, “Please put your life first.” The reflector jacket alerts drivers to the presence of (boda bodas) on the road and the importance of wearing helmets at all times.
How many boda bodas have you trained or evacuated to your facility or elsewhere, and do you know how many have died as a result of a road accident?
Three of those we trained have lost limbs, and seven have died (these are not among us). I received a report that they died on the spot, and I am investigating the causes of death or the crash. I was told that three of them did not wear helmets, and that others died in a head-on collision on the Northern bypass.
Two of the 225 cohorts sustained minor injuries, while three lost limbs.
What are your strategic plans going forward?
One goal is to spread the training beyond Mukono. We want to relocate because boda bodas are not limited to Mukono. We want to increase the number of people receiving pre-hospital emergency care. We will not only consider boda bodas, but we will also need to train lay people (bystanders) who frequently take pictures after accidents.
We intend to launch a campaign to promote road safety in schools, as the majority of crashes are caused by behavioural changes. We intend to create a fully functional emergency call centre.
Is there a time frame for the call centre?
Yes. We want to have it within two years.
According to statistics, 12 people are killed every day in traffic accidents. Does this worry you?
It (really) worries me. That means, in my simple mathematics, “Every minute there is somebody who is dying.” We all know that malaria has a treatment plan. I’m sure we also can have a plan on how to stop traffic crashes.
What is your call to the general road users?
My message to them is that we are all victims of road accidents. Let us be the ones who are unborn. I encourage everyone to be vigilant and curious about how we use the roads. Let us not be part of the road crash statistics; instead, let us serve as advisors to others. When we work together, we can change these numbers.
Let us stop needless deaths and disabilities due to road crashes.
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