E/R: Nurses battle snakes at CHPS compound to save lives

Nurses at Klo Djerkiti Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) Compound have been battling venomous snakes and other reptiles at the facility due to darkness as a result of lack of electricity in the community.

The Senior Community Health Nurse in Charge of the facility Salomey Okpoti recounted to Starr News that countless times she had to call for help of residents to kill reptiles which dangerously invade the facility at night.

Recently, the Nurse was nearly bitten by a snake that hid under the seat of a motorbike they use at the facility.

“Most of the times snakes just came in here. There was a time we saw one on our motorbike we were just trying to wash it when we Saw the snake in the boot so we even have to screen for Community members to help us kill the snake .There was another time another green snake was entering the room .Even in the rooms we’ve had series of scorpion bites. Myself scorpion has bitten me and my colleague as well because of the darkness”.

Klo Djerkity CHPS compound was constructed through advocacy by SEND GHANA, an NGO, under its “People for Health Project”, in 2019 and furnished by US Embassy. The facility currently manned by two Nurses provide primary health Care to more than ten (10) farming communities .

Due to lack of electricity in the area, Nurses at the CHPS compound struggle to attend to patients at night while refrigeration of essential medicines become a mirage .

“Due to the lack of electricity here we use solar torch lights to take care of patients at night. For drugs that need refrigeration we have to send it to another health facility in a different Community very far from here. So in fact we need electricity here even charging of mobile phones and other gadgets we have to send to that same community”

Klo Djerkity,Oborpa West, Trawa, Abobeng ,Oborpa Dornguam ,Abobeng ,Oborpa East, Ogornya,Akortor and over 30 other farming Communities in the area have not been connected to the national grid despite incessant agitation by residents.

A rural electrification project which started in 2016 has been abandoned. Whereas electricity poles and stringing of transmission lines have been completed at Oborpah Community awaiting transformer to be fixed, electricity poles transported to the rest of the communities almost four years now have been left under the mercy of the weather.

Dademantse of Klo Djerkity Moses Tetteh Padi told Starr News ” electricity poles were brought to this Community ,they told us to dig the holes which we did but they didn’t erect the poles,there is no electricity here so we are saying no light no vote we will not vote in this Community”

The Dademantse of Oborpah Community Agbertey Tetteh said , the Communities have been without power since its existence despite strands of high voltage lines that pass over to distribute electricity to other communities.

 

Source: Starr News