Hero on call: Paramedic volunteers to save lives in times of crisis

In the busy streets of Nairobi, everyone comes off as a busy passerby running late for work or an appointment.

As such, few would imagine that a medic would be on standby waiting to attend to an emergency case that would arise should a passenger faint while queuing at the bus stop, or a passerby develop breathing complications right in the middle of the streets.

Meet Peter Koome, a certified emergency medical technician (EMT) who during his part time serves as a volunteer first aid responder and trainer to Kenyans who need emergency care or skills that could help save a life.

An EMT provides emergency onsite medical care and transportation (often in an ambulance) for critically injured or ill individuals who require immediate medical assistance.

Koome meets with The Eastleigh Voice team in town moments after arriving from Ruiru where he had been scheduled by the Africa Air Rescue (AAR Rescue) where he is currently attached on locus as an EMT and trainer. On this day he had been tasked to train school pupils between the ages of three and four years on basic first aid skills.

"I was teaching them how to respond to minor medical issues like nose bleeding, injuries resulting from a minor fall so forth and what causes such events to occur. Some adults may not know that a person does not only faint due to sun exposure, hunger and loss of blood can lead to fainting.  Nose bleeding that persists for more than 30 minutes requires a doctor's intervention," Koome says as he settles down for this interview.

These are the skills that he voluntarily shares with Kenyans on buses and elsewhere during his free time.

Peter Koome (3rd left) on duty as a paramedic when he worked with the St John's Ambulance. He has since moved to AAR Rescue where he is on locus as an EMT and trainer. (Photo: Handout)

When dealing with adults, Koome says he goes further to train them on how to respond to major bleeding, loss of breath, serious fainting and so forth.

The desire to impart first aid skills to as many Kenyans as he possibly stemmed from his experience during the dusitD2 Complex attack where he was among the first responders.

"I was working at the St John's Ambulance at the time and when I left the scene and started recalling how the situation was, it occurred to me that many people lack basic first aid skills. I say this because most of the people who had gunshots were screaming for help instead of first doing something to stop the bleeding and those that could have helped them also joined in screaming for help instead of stopping the bleeding," he says.

Such skills are important, he says, because they can save lives in the event an ambulance is delayed.

"We say that an ambulance must arrive at the scene within 10 minutes of receiving an alert. Beyond that, often the case gets complicated as the patient may have lost too much blood and could die if first aid is not administered," he says.

It is for this reason that Koome always carried a backpack with him while running errands in town or during his training sessions.

"I also carry my bag with me wherever I go, it contains the basic first aid essentials like triangular bandages, disposable gloves, tourniquets, cotton wool, bandages, disinfectant and so forth," he says.

The bag comes in handy because, on several occasions, he has had to respond to emergency cases while running errands on the streets.

"My most memorable and even traumatic incident of all the scenes I have been to was an accident that occurred in Eldama Ravine as I was heading back to Nairobi. Our car had suddenly gotten stuck in traffic at an unusual hour when upon checking what was happening we were told an accident had occurred a few meters ahead.

“I picked up my bag and walked to the scene where I met the most horrific scene, one of the drivers of the affected cars had been amputated on the spot by the impact of the crash and fallen in a shallow ditch. Onlookers seemed terrified and could not immediately help, so I got to the patient, tied his thighs with the only tourniquet I had and improvised another for the second leg," he recalls.

As he struggled with the patient, another motorist who had been stuck in the same traffic joined him and introduced himself as a doctor and together they assisted the driver get to Eldama Ravine Level Three Hospital for further treatment.

In yet another incident that occurred along Harry Thuku Road, Koome recalls seeing people gathered around a person who was lying on the ground.

"They said, the lady had travelled with them from North Rift but upon reaching Nairobi, she started experiencing difficulty in breathing and so, they removed her from the matatu and started fanning her to allow her to get some air. Unbeknown to them, the lady was asthmatic and I sensed this because of her state. I asked her to sit up, got a Maasai shuka to cover her and within two minutes she was okay. She was coming from a hot place when upon arrival, it started raining, that was the problem," he said.

The other passengers, he said, erred by fanning her in that they were adding on to the trigger, which is cold.

"Asthma is triggered by cold, dust, smells and so forth. With simple basic training, they would have known that without an inhaler, manual management of an asthma patient required them to provide her with warmth. In EMT, we say, you either remove the casualty from the problem or the problem from the casualty. In this case, I removed the casualty from the problem by providing some warmth," he recalled.

Such incidents, he notes, contribute to his passion for volunteering first aid skills to passengers in matatus.

"I am not like those preachers who do it for sadaka, I just train and go. I would do every day if I had a donor and stretch my training beyond the borders to areas like Uganda and Burundi," he says.

In recognition of his outstanding dedication to championing corporate social responsibilities, Koome was on October 18, 2024 named CSR Ambassador of the year by the Work Place Safety Association of Kenya.

"It annoys me how ‘green’ many people are when it comes to matters of first aid. My urge to the government is to make first aid training free for all primary and secondary school students," he said.