A 21-year-old form 2 Business student of the Wa T.I Ahmadiyya Senior High School in Upper West Region died after falling from the first floor of the dormitory block. The student who is a native of Kachiau, a farming community in the Wa West District, has been identified as Kojo Issac. Some students who said they saw him moment before he died, while they were studying, told 3news.com that at around 11pm on 11th February 2020 they saw Issac getting down from his bed and went outside the room when his mates were asleep. According to them, they thought he had stepped out to go and urinate, only to hear a loud cry outside but they rushed outside to see Issac lying on the ground with a fractured neck. The House One Prefect, known as Sei who is also the school father of Issac told 3news.com he ate with Issac at around 10pm before they all went to bed that fateful day. He said the Assistant Senior Housemaster quickly arranged a tricycle transport which is popularly called “Mahama camboo” in Wa to transport the boy to the Upper West Regional Hospital. The boy was later transferred on Wednesday, 12 February 2020 to Tamale Teaching Hospital for further treatment but he died upon arrival. He was buried on Friday, February 14, 2020 at Kachiau. Sister of the deceased Matta Burgur lamented about the incident but said the family was informed about it Wednesday morning when he was being transferred to Tamale Teaching Hospital. The authorities at the Wa T.I Ahmaddiya Senior High School would not comment on the issue when contacted. Experts Advice Meanwhile, 3news.com spoke to some experts on what people can do to save lives in circumstances like the one that led to the death of the 21-year-old student. The Head, Directorate of Trauma and Orthopedics, at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, Dr. Dominic Konadu-Yeboah explained that falling from a story building onto a hard floor constitutes high energy trauma. This, he also said, exposes victims to a high chance of cervical spine injury. While explaining what needs to done in such a situation, he indicated that, the head and neck of the victim should be held still, avoiding all injudicious movements. “This is to prevent a fractured neck bone from compressing the delicate adjacent spinal cord, whose injury could cause acute respiratory failure and or sudden death or permanent paralysis (wheelchair bound)” He said, in the case of Kojo Isaac, he should have been placed flat with face up and the neck supported by placing any suitable objects on either side of the neck that prevents rotation or side to side movement of the neck during transportation to hospital. An Orthopedic surgeon at Tema General Hospital, Dr Odei-Ansong Francis said cervical spine injury especially when higher up the spine is likely to cause the death of most patients. And when also transported in a bad position may also cause death. He said edema or swelling around the cord can also contributes. A Surgeon at St. Joseph Hospital at Koforidua in the Eastern Region Dr. Wilfred Addo also said spine injuries are the number one cause of early deaths in injuries. “Therefore it should be the priority of transporters to protect the spine during the handling and transport of injured patients.” He listed ways it can be done in order to help the situation:
- Cervical spine protection in neck collar
- Move the patient in log roll on spine board
- Provide adequate resuscitation
- Transfer to level 1 trauma centre where there is a neurosurgical unit.