Makueni County Fire and Rescue brigade has been crowned the best in the country for their effective emergency preparedness and rescue response during the Kenya Fire and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) competition.
Isiolo County was ranked second while Kenya Airport Authority (KAA) came third in the competition that ended over the weekend at KAA Training School, Nairobi.
“The Makueni County Fire and Rescue brigade was awarded a trophy, a Cardiopulmonary Resuscitating Monitor to aid in emergency medical services, two complete sets of trauma bags, and cash prizes,” said County Chief Fire Officer Urbanus Kyalo after demonstrating a firefighting drill within the County headquarter in presence of Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jnr.
Kyalo attributed the win to an intensive training on emergency rescue services and the availability of firefighting equipment, a road traffic accident vehicle and a firefighting station at Makindu along Mombasa- Nairobi highway.
“In the past 4 years we have been able to respond and attend to 198 fires, road traffic accidents mostly along the Mombasa- Nairobi highway involving vehicles ferrying petroleum products and rescued a number of new born babies thrown into deep pit latrines,” added Kyalo
The county also produced the best Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) Erick Muli, a paramedic from Matiliku Sub County Hospital.
Also, paramedic institutions during the symposium were Kenya Red Cross, Avenue Health rescue, Komarock modern hospital, Mary hill, and Bristol Park among others.
The symposium themed, “Towards growing effective and efficient emergency rescue and response teams 2022” covered fire service leadership, community fire safety, tactical firefighting, emergency medical service, and fire engine operation.
The symposium attracted over 300 fire emergency and rescue practitioners, the Kenya Council of Emergency Medical Technicians, the Chief fire mission, and other partners.
The competition was organised in partnership between the Africa Fire Mission, Polish Centre for International Aid, Kenya Medical Care Technician (KMCT), and Kenya National Fire Brigade Association (KENFIBA)
“This is a commendable job done by our team, we must enhance our disaster response preparedness to avoid loss of lives and property,” said Governor Mutula.
By Ronald Rono
