Large teams 24/7, state-of-the-art equipment and contained flow: the new face of the Casablanca University Hospital Emergency Department

It is one of these experiences that radically changes, and for the better, the relationships between citizens and the administration. When it comes to a public health service, especially in the largest metropolis in the country, we can only be pleased. Visiting the new emergency department of the Casablanca university hospital is to experience a real paradigm shift in public health. A brand new building with impeccable cleanliness, numerous and very active teams, some of the most modern equipment in the sector, a studied flow… All the ingredients for optimal operation are there.

Among the most important in Africa

Opened to the public last September, this service receives an average of 300 patients per day, or one patient every five minutes, summarizes Professor Mohamed Benghanem Gharbi, director of the Ibn Rochd hospital. “It is one of the largest structures of its kind in Africa. All specialties are represented there with teams rotating every day of the week, 24 hours a day.», he explains to us. The department is equipped with the most modern equipment, whether in terms of scanners, MRI or ultrasound. As a bonus, a tool which, for its small size, allows blood tests to be carried out in less than 10 minutes for situations that cannot wait longer or require rapid refinement of the diagnosis.

Professor of higher education, doctor specializing in intensive care anesthesia and emergency physician, but above all head of the emergency department, Mohamed Mouhaoui is very proud. He explains to us that his patients are either urgent cases who arrive directly, notably via the SAMU, or cases emanating from other hospitals through the regional coordination center. This is another strength of the emergency department: flow management. Moreover, and in order to avoid any congestion in the premises, only the patient and an accompanying person are admitted.

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Inside, and at the reception service, the platform has a service dedicated to initial diagnostics. There is also a resuscitation room as well as no less than 23 boxes, each dedicated to a given specialty or a particular treatment. This is the case, for example, with the thrombolysis unit, a standard drug treatment for stroke used to dissolve the blood clot that obstructs the cerebral artery. This treatment must be administered within 4 ½ hours following the first symptoms of the stroke.

«The aim is to provide the most appropriate healthcare as quickly as possible.», Explains Professor Mouhaoui. The department also has three operating rooms for urgent interventions. Another reason for pride is the establishment in situ of a simulation unit for various interventions and first aid. If such training is available in medical faculties, this is a first in a public hospital in Morocco.