Dr Diaso: Culprits must be prosecuted

The death of a young medical doctor, Vwaere Diaso, on Tuesday, August 1, 2023, as a result of an elevator accident at the General Hospital, Odan, Lagos Island, was not only traumatic for her family members, colleagues and friends, it indeed shook many Nigerians, who felt that the incident was avoidable. The elevator was said to have malfunctioned and crashed from the ninth floor with the deceased inside. This is a national tragedy, especially from the medical point of view, for a country where only one doctor is available to treat between 30,000 and 45,000 patients, depending on the part of the country.

A panel set up by Lagos State government to look into the likely causes of the accident, identify persons who might be culpable, and suggest ways of preventing any future occurrence has since concluded deliberations and submitted its report. The panel had, as members, representatives of the Medical Guild and six representatives of House Officers.

According to the panel’s findings, which were disclosed by the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Information and Strategy, Olumide Sogunle, “The incident happened around 6.50 pm. Due to the impact, the elevator doors were damaged and needed to be forced open to rescue the trapped house officer. She was extracted at about 7.50 pm and resuscitation commenced immediately. She was wheeled to the emergency room and was immediately attended to by a medical team led by a highly experienced consultant orthopaedic and trauma surgeon.

“The team was assisted by all house officers who were present at the time. The initial objectives were to ensure a clear airway, maintain breathing and establish circulation. The team was also joined by two consultant anaesthetists, including the Medical Director, who intubated the patient. Despite all the efforts, she stopped breathing around 8.13pm and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) commenced. This went on until 8.59pm when she was pronounced dead.”

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However, one of the house officers in the hospital, Dr Ajuwon Olumide, who was part of those that rescued Diaso from the elevator, alleged that the hospital’s management was not proactive despite informing them immediately after the crash occurred.

“We tried to open the elevator, but we were unable to. We switched it off and called the elevator’s maintenance team. They asked us to switch it off so that it would open, but it didn’t.

“We called the maintenance company in charge of the elevator and the maintenance unit within the hospital, but nobody came. For more than 40 minutes, nobody came to her rescue. We were not ready to give up and continued trying to open the elevator door. Just when we thought all hope was lost, the door opened a bit, and we saw her lying in a pool of blood.

“She kept begging us not to let her die. She was in pain and still bleeding profusely. We rushed her to the emergency unit, where she was placed on oxygen. It was discovered that she was bleeding internally and needed a blood transfusion, but there was no blood in the facility,” Olamide said.

The father of the deceased, Mr. Kennedy Diaso, also accused the hospital of a deliberate attempt to kill his daughter who was meant to complete a programme at the hospital two weeks before her death.

We commiserate with the family of the deceased and pray to God to grant her eternal rest.  The incident is most unfortunate to say the least, especially when viewed against reports that the elevator had been in a bad state for quite a while. That should not be the case, especially in a hospital where there could be emergency situations and need to use the elevator to move patients in urgent need of attention. The circumstances surrounding Diaso’s death have clearly exposed the sorry state of Nigerian medical facilities, especially with regards to emergency response during critical moments, such as the one that involved the young medical doctor. It has also exposed the kind of attention the country pays to management and maintenance of facilities in the country.

Though, Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu  ordered the immediate suspension of the state’s Infrastructure and Asset Management Agency’s boss, Adenike Adekanbi, for not properly overseeing the activities of the agency and managing the facility, and the sacking and blacklisting of the facility managers, more needs to be done to reassure the family members, colleagues of the deceased and Nigerians that this doctor did not die in vain. All those found culpable in one way or another in the incident must be prosecuted.

What happened to regulatory agencies, whose duty it is to ensure that companies, institutions operate according to set rules? If the agency that is expected to monitor these institutions carried out its duty, this incident may not have occurred.  Regulatory agencies must rise and perform their duties effectively and ensure that appropriate sanctions are applied where necessary.  The death of Dr Diaso must give birth to a new approach in our emergency response as well as in management and maintenance of public facilities.