Bula
Three stories make the front page of The Fiji Times for Thursday, June 12.
We still have the Fallout from the COI report on the Barbara Malimali case alive. We also covered the protest march by chiefs of Ra against the 2013 Constitution and the shocker at the CWM Hospital!
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Synopsis
The revelation that tiny lives were on the line when power was cut to the Colonial War Memorial Hospital during a fire emergency at the weekend is a concern.
The shocker was that newborns and young children on oxygen at the Children’s Ward had to be manually resuscitated as staff scrambled to keep them breathing.
The blackout followed a blaze that destroyed the old Birthing Unit on Amy Street, just opposite the hospital.
It is encouraging to note that Health Assistant Minister Dr Penioni Ravunawa confirmed no lives were lost and praised hospital staff for their swift action.
However, it is a concern that in this day and age, that such a thing happened.
We agree the incident exposed serious issues, including an ageing, manually operated backup generator and outdated electrics.
How can this be happening?
It is good to know that Dr Ravunawa has confirmed urgent upgrades are now being pushed for hospitals in Suva, Labasa, Navua and Tavua to prevent future risks.
This still does not answer the question of what happened. And why wasn’t anyone addressing such shortcomings? Why weren’t we prepared for such an incident? Was this an oversight? Then
who should be held responsible? It is fortunate that no lives were lost!
The challenge now moving forward is to ensure our hospitals are up to acceptable standards in terms of safety features and preparedness.
And we say this while reflecting on another incident in March this year when the backup generator failed to come on during an electricity outage, while doctors were in the middle of a surgery at the CWM Hospital.
Now that was a shocker and a serious lapse in procedures and operations then.
The power cut left the operating theatre in complete darkness.
Visiting paediatric surgeon Dr Neil Price from the Melbourne Children’s Hospital described the scene as “pitch black”.
Imagine that! In the middle of an open surgery, the power goes off, and doctors and their assistants are standing there, waiting for the lights to come back on.
CWM Hospital general and chief pediatric surgeon Dr Josese Turagava waited for more than 20 minutes before calling the senior divisional medical officer to send someone to turn the power back on.
Lives may depend on back up power in a hospital coming on every time there is a power blackout.
While we accept there may be challenges, we also expect vigilance. Again we wonder why the issue of backup power wasn’t addressed following this incident?
We expect a great sense of responsibility attached to getting things right at our premier hospital.
And while we are at it, let’s ensure every other hospital around the country is hooked up to backup power, and they are tested regularly.
We commend the quick thinking and dedication of hospital staff, but we hope there are no repetitions in the future.
We expect vigilance and accountability. We expect a culture of responsibility where nothing is left to chance when it comes to healthcare delivery. We expect the best from our hospitals!
