Baby dies after hospital blackoutCritically ill patients were transferred to private hospitals after the Windhoek State Hospital’s ground floor experienced a power failure yesterday morning. State hospital ICU without power for hours 0 A baby died moments after being transferred to a private hospital after the Windhoek Central Hospital intensive care unit (ICU) experienced a power outage that lasted several hours yesterday morning. The four-month-old baby died in the ICU of the MediClinic private hospital, the health ministry confirmed yesterday. Four other patients, including two babies, were transferred to MediClinic and Lady Pohamba Private Hospital.
Three patients were discharged to other wards at the central hospital.
The ICU lost power at 05:00 and it was only restored at around 11:00. The backup generator reportedly only worked for an hour before failing.
During the blackout medical personnel resorted to using cellphones as flashlights as they attended to critically ill patients, while worried relatives sat outside in the dark waiting room.
Curious bystanders were wandering in and around the ICU while the staff of the ambulance services that came to transfer the patients to private hospitals could not find the entrance to the ICU and got lost in the dark for several minutes.
An anxious Libertina Tsuses told Namibian Sun that one of the ICU patients was her daughter who had just given birth and suffered complications.
“After she gave birth, she had water on the lungs and was brought in to the ICU last night. Now I am just wondering what will happen to her now that the power is off,” she said.
According to the health ministry’s acting spokesperson, Libita Manga, the power outage affected the hospital’s west wing ground floor and the ICU was the most seriously affected.
“Since the outage just affected part of the hospital, most parts of the hospital had power and the backup generator could not automatically switch on, it only kicks in when it is a municipal power failure,” Manga explained.
“The Department of Works electricians were called in, as well as electrical engineers from the City of Windhoek who identified that the electrical circuit breaker had a mechanical fault, which does not normally happen.”
She added that eight patients were in the ICU when the outage occurred. Five were transferred to private hospitals and the remaining three to different wards of the central hospital.
“The private institutions where patients were transferred will be compensated,” she stated.
It appeared that Health Minister Bernard Haufiku was only informed of the power failure by about 14:00.
When Namibian Sun contacted him just after lunchtime he said he was unaware of the situation, but he returned the call shortly afterwards, saying he had just been briefed by his permanent secretary, Andreas Mwoombola.
Mwoombola, who had not answered his phone the entire morning, responded to Namibian Sun’s calls after Haufiku suggested that he would be available.
JEMIMA BEUKES