Blackout cripples Georgetown Hospital generator

Oct 13, 2009 News

– three-year-old girl succumbs as staff operate machines manually

By Michael Jordan
An approximately four-hour power failure last night crippled crucial sections of the Georgetown Hospital, and a three-year-old girl succumbed as emergency machines shut down, forcing staff to operate them manually.
The power outage finally ended shortly after midnight, after staff from the Guyana Power and Light Corporation were summoned at the institution.
They arrived at around 23:00 hrs and put in emergency measures that resulted in power being restored.
Minister of Health Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, who was present, told Kaieteur News that the situation occurred after GPL “knocked out” the hospital generator.
“GPL knocked out the generator and we are trying to get it back on,” he said.
Kaieteur News was present when the GPHC technicians explained that a switch on the generator had been damaged.
The crucial services affected included the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) the Pediatric Unit, and the Accident and Emergency Unit.
Kaieteur News observed staff in the Intensive Care Unit frantically operating machines manually to keep patients alive, while GPL workers set up their emergency system.
In the Pediatric Unit, this newspaper also observed staffers valiantly performing CPR on a three year-old girl, as her grandmother wept nearby.
The child passed away at around midnight.
Describing the situation as being “bad.” a senior medical staffer confirmed that the life support machines at the hospital had shut down.
Kaieteur News was unable to glean any information on the situation in the Operation Theatre or the High Dependency Unit.
In the Accident and Emergency Unit, an ambulance driver provided light to staffers by driving close to the doorway and keeping his headlights on.

(See more on this story, along with pictures, in tomorrow’s edition).