A panel constituted by the Lagos State chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association has revealed that the elevator that caused the death of their member, Vwaere Diaso, at the General Hospital, Lagos Island, was faulty and not fit for use.
In its report submitted to the President of the Nigerian Medical Association, Benjamin Olowojebutu, in Lagos on Wednesday, the panel stated that the elevator “ought not to have been put to use to avoid endangering lives.”
Following the death of their member, Dr Vwaere Diaso, the association inaugurated a panel to probe the circumstances that led to her death.
The 11-member panel comprised an independent committee of Doctors, Lawyers and Engineers, chaired by Saheed Babajide.
Recall that the elevator fell from the 10th floor of the building while Dr. Diaso was still inside it. She sustained various degrees of injuries which eventually led to her death.
According to the report, the two elevators in the building were not operating satisfactorily for a long time based on the accounts of two house officers interviewed by members of the panel.
However, in the report, the panel recommended saying, “Following the standards of Lagos State Safety Commission, we recommend that hospital assets be maintained and serviced by the hospital management to avoid needless bureaucracy and such assets should be certified annually by competent professionals.
“Upon commissioning of assets or technical equipment, the operators of the equipment must be adequately trained and retrained on safety and proper operation and handling of emergencies.
“Routine safety drills should be conducted by safety officers for all staff.”
The panel also recommended the investigation of all stakeholders and contractors involved and the prosecution of anyone found culpable.
The recommendations also include naming the house officers’ quarters at General Hospital Odan, Lagos Island after the deceased, to immortalise her.
Meanwhile, speaking to newsmen in Lagos on Wednesday after receiving the panel’s report, the NMA President, Olowojebutu, noted that the loss of their member, Vwaere Diaso, would not be swept under the carpet.
He stressed that the aftermath of the sad occurrence will not be business as usual, assuring that everyone involved will be held accountable for their incompetence and lackadaisical attitude which has led to the loss of their member.
He said, “For us at the Nigerian Medical Association, the reason why we have made this an important part of our duty is that if something has been bad for that long and nothing had been done and it took the life of our doctor to make things happen, I feel/think it’s very preventable. It’s just common sense, put a slab on it and say ‘Do not use’, it’s just common sense.
“So everybody involved, every agency involved must answer the question. You know the way we’re in Nigeria, we’ll just say after a while we’ll all go back to normal stuff, we don’t want that, do you know why?
“It’s not only Doctors that can die, it can be anyone that can have this accident. There must be proper safety rules, there must be proper adherent rules that make sure Nigerians and Lagosians are safe.”
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