By Akinwale Kasali
The Lagos State Government is not leaving any stone unturned in its investigation into the avoidable elevator accident that led to the death of a Medical Doctor, Vwaere Diaso at the General Hospital, Odan, Lagos Island.
It has wielded the big stick by suspending the General Manager of Lagos State Infrastructure and Asset Management Agency, LASIAMA, Adenike Adekanbi who is saddled with overseeing the activities of the facility management company.
It has also suspended all the Facility Managers with immediate effect.
The Lagos State Government had set up a panel to look into the likely causes, identify persons who might be culpable, and suggest ways of preventing any future occurrence.
For transparency, the membership of the panel included representatives of the Medical Guild and six representatives of House Officers.
After a thorough deliberation and investigation, the Panel submitted the report that led to the suspension of the said persons with immediate effect.
According to its findings, 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.
The deceased was said to have been 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 Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) commenced. This went on until 8.59pm when she was pronounced dead.
The Panel said that, “It is important to state that blood samples for cross-matching had not been taken and there had not been a request for blood at the time CPR commenced; it is not true that blood was not available. The State has a strong network of screening centres where blood is available. Besides, there is a register of voluntary donors who can be mobilised at very short notice.
“It is also important to state that the elevator that crashed was installed brand new in 2021. Elevator experts working with the Lagos Safety Commission have carried out an initial inspection and will be removing the elevator for further mechanical examination to determine why the safety features that should prevent this kind of accident did not work. Their findings will determine if we have a case with the elevator installer”.
The Lagos State Government however said that the operations and line of reporting of the facility managers have been restructured to involve the hospital management directly.
It added that it has handed the installation and maintenance contractors to the police for further investigation and likely prosecution if they are found culpable. The police will also investigate anyone else that might have been found to be negligent.
The Engineers are said to be working tirelessly to unravel why all the safety devices of the elevator failed at the same time, and that all its staff are fully insured, and also informed its life insurance providers about this incident.
