"Doctor running around in a panic"

Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic

   Family accuses hospital of mishandling bird flu case

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta- MARCH 22,2006

The family of a five-year-old boy who died Sunday at Sulianti Saroso Hospital in North Jakarta plans to sue the hospital for negligence.

The claim is supported by a doctor at the hospital.

    The boy's uncle, Heri Haman, said family members had observed nurses and a doctor running around in a panic after the concentration of oxygen delivered to the boy's ventilator dropped, causing respiratory failure.

"The nurses and a doctor were in such a panic, but they did nothing and, finally, my nephew died," he told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

The hospital subsequently announced respiratory failure had caused the boy's death.

The boy, who lived with his family in Bekasi, West Java, was admitted at the hospital with bird flu symptoms.

The deputy director of Sulianti Saroso, Sardikin Giriputro, said weak pressure from the oxygen center to the intensive care unit had caused the oxygen concentration to drop.

Sardikin said the hospital had not replaced supporting equipment for the ventilators in the ICU in 12 years.

Meanwhile, a hospital doctor, who requested anonymity, said the boy died because of the negligence of several members of the hospital's staff.

"The equipment was fine and the concentration of oxygen was adequate. There are two supply systems in the oxygen center. If one system cannot supply enough oxygen, a staff member must manually switch supply lines. In this case, nobody was there to do that," the source told the Post.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailcity.asp?fileid=20060322.G02&irec=1