Broken hospital equipment blamed for SA visitor’s death

THE circumstances under which a Cape Town man died in Oshakati last week has left some family members angry and disappointed in the health system at the Oshakati State Hospital.

Omar Arend (53) died after suffering a stroke on Thursday. His family feel that his death could have been prevented if the hospital’s equipment was fully functional and its staff more effective.Speaking to The Namibian yesterday, a relative who was at Arend’s side during the entire ordeal said he had to give his uncle cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) while the paramedics watched “in panic”.According to Zaheer Brenner, the paramedics also battled to insert the intravenous needle into the arm of a still-breathing Arend.”My brother Nasief had to put the needle into the arm himself because the paramedics were struggling,” said Brenner.”He (Arend) then stopped breathing, so my brother and I started giving him CPR.”The paramedics eventually retrieved a defibrillator – a device to deliver an electric shock to a patient’s heart – but it was out of order.”It was not the power because the machine actually went on,” recalls Brenner.”It was just out of order because we plugged it into three different sockets, but it just wouldn’t work.”The Brenner brothers continued to do CPR, breaking Arend’s ribs in the process.”We soon realised that there was nothing more we could do to save him, he was dead,” Brenner said.Although there are no guarantees that Arend would have survived if the defibrillator had been fully operational, some are questioning the State hospital’s preparedness to save lives.”It’s the biggest State hospital in the North and offers services to thousands of patients.The fact of the matter is it should not have a broken defibrillator as it’s an important device when it comes to saving lives,” said a Cuban doctor who preferred to remain anonymous.Approached for comment, the Director of Health in the North West, Dr Naftali Hamata, said he was not aware of Arend’s case or the non-operational equipment, but promised to look into the matter.His family feel that his death could have been prevented if the hospital’s equipment was fully functional and its staff more effective.Speaking to The Namibian yesterday, a relative who was at Arend’s side during the entire ordeal said he had to give his uncle cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) while the paramedics watched “in panic”.According to Zaheer Brenner, the paramedics also battled to insert the intravenous needle into the arm of a still-breathing Arend.”My brother Nasief had to put the needle into the arm himself because the paramedics were struggling,” said Brenner.”He (Arend) then stopped breathing, so my brother and I started giving him CPR.”The paramedics eventually retrieved a defibrillator – a device to deliver an electric shock to a patient’s heart – but it was out of order.”It was not the power because the machine actually went on,” recalls Brenner.”It was just out of order because we plugged it into three different sockets, but it just wouldn’t work.”The Brenner brothers continued to do CPR, breaking Arend’s ribs in the process.”We soon realised that there was nothing more we could do to save him, he was dead,” Brenner said.Although there are no guarantees that Arend would have survived if the defibrillator had been fully operational, some are questioning the State hospital’s preparedness to save lives.”It’s the biggest State hospital in the North and offers services to thousands of patients.The fact of the matter is it should not have a broken defibrillator as it’s an important device when it comes to saving lives,” said a Cuban doctor who preferred to remain anonymous. Approached for comment, the Director of Health in the North West, Dr Naftali Hamata, said he was not aware of Arend’s case or the non-operational equipment, but promised to look into the matter.