The death of a medical doctor, Diaso Vwaere, in an elevator accident at the Lagos Island General Hospital, Odan, was avoidable, making the tragedy very unfortunate, distressing and a bad signal from a health institution. The state government must do everything possible to prevent recurrence not just in the hospital but in all government and public buildings.
Many facts of the accident indicate that the life of the promising young doctor, who had just two weeks to complete her housemanship in the hospital, would have been saved and the family spared everlasting sorrow if the authorities of the hospital, and other relevant agencies had taken seriously the signals and warnings from the elevator and complaints by some staff, and done the needful. A health institution that counsels people to pay serious attention to symptoms of diseases and contact doctors promptly to save their lives should not allow ‘symptoms’ of technical fault in an elevator to persist, as it was learnt, till it claims the life of a young doctor.
Diaso met her untimely and painful death on August 1, 2023 at the Doctors’ Quarters of the General Hospital when the elevator she was in suddenly crashed to the basement from the 10th floor. She was on her way to the ground floor to take delivery of the food she had ordered. A friend and colleague of hers, might also have fallen victim of the accident if she had not opted out of the elevator because she was on a video call at that time. Following the crash and upon information that someone was trapped in the elevator, technicians and engineers were mobilised; but opening the elevator was a rather slow venture, taking 45 precious minutes during which Diaso’s survival chances diminished, having been gravely injured. Lamenting the accident, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu described the death of Diaso as devastating and said his administration had moved to investigate the tragedy in a transparent and unbiased manner.
However, there are indications that the accident and the resultant death of Diaso might not be unconnected with negligence. It was gathered that the elevator had developed technical problems and given enough signs of possible failure over time. It was also learnt that the poor state of the elevator made the hospital to reduce the number of people it could carry from eight (the installed capacity) to two, indicating that the authorities were quite aware of the bad and dangerous state of the lift. Why then was the elevator, which the government said was installed new in 2021, not repaired or fixed for a long time? What maintenance work was carried out since it was installed? These are critical posers begging for unraveling; and the government should ensure thorough investigation.
Following the recommendation by the panel set up to investigate the circumstances that surrounded Vwaere’s death, the state government suspended the General Manager of the agency that oversees activities of the facility management company in charge of the doctors’ staff quarters, Lagos State Infrastructure and Asset Management Agency (LASIAMA), Adenike Adekanbi. It also handed over the installation and maintenance contractors to the police for further investigation and likely prosecution. Besides, the operations and line of reporting of the facility managers were immediately restructured to involve the hospital management directly.
It is gratifying that the Lagos State Safety Commission has been mandated to carry out an audit of all elevators in public offices. It is important that this assignment is not glossed over because human lives are at stake, and it simply would not do to have another death through avoidable accidents. There is a need for adequate precaution and maintenance of all facilities that can cause harm to persons, in all public places.
Government also stated that “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.” And “their findings will determine if we have a case with the elevator installer.”
The police have been mandated to investigate anyone else that might have been found to be negligent. Nigerians expect thorough investigation to forestall any similar incident, even as engineers are said to be working to unravel why all the safety devices of the elevator failed at the same time.
The claim that there was no blood in the hospital to resuscitate the accident victim was debunked by the government, although the Lagos State Branch of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) said blood shortage or scarcity was a recurring issue because of the government’s review of the previous policy on blood donation in the state.
According to the government: “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.” Government’s statement added that: “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.”
Indeed, it is difficult to imagine that in a hospital of that status, blood would be scarce. Blood is a crucial element in the treatment of many serious medical cases, especially emergencies. With Lagos’ huge population and industrial and commercial status, it is expected that the blood bank will always be full for those in need of it in various cases, including during and after childbirth. Also unfortunate is the fact that the late Diaso was trapped in the elevator for about 40 minutes before she was rescued, which indicates poor and late response to the emergency.
Beyond investigating the tragedy and rolling out sanctions, the state government should move swiftly to repair, replace or maintain the elevator and other similar facilities in the health sector, address bureaucratic bottlenecks that could have caused the dangerous delay in fixing the elevator and begin a reorientation programme that will make workers in the health and other relevant sectors to attach greater value to human life such that anything that constitutes a threat to life is tackled swiftly and not treated with kid gloves. The maintenance culture should be strengthened and response to emergencies should be much swifter than was experienced in the Diaso’s case.
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