The Lagos Safety Commission has been directed to immediately carry out an audit of all elevators in public offices, besides the usual safety arrangements.
The directive is on the heels of an elevator accident of Tuesday, 1st of August 2023 at the House Officer’s residence at the General Hospital, Odan, Lagos Island which resulted in the death of a young house officer Dr. Vwaere Diaso.
A panel was put in place to look into the cause of the accident and suggest ways of preventing any reoccurrence of came up with the recommendation and other suggestions.
“According to the 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 p.m. 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 orthopedic 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 anesthetists, including the Medical Director, who intubated the patient. Despite all the efforts, she stopped breathing around 8.13 pm and C, radio at 8.13 primary Resuscitation (CPR) commenced. This went on until 8.59 pm when she was pronounced dead “.
Explaining the content of the report, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Mr. Olumide Shogunle, said, 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 centers where blood is available. Besides, there is a register of voluntary donors who can be mobilized at very short notice”.- Shogunle said.
He stated that based on the initial findings, the Lagos State Government had taken actions which include the sacking and blacklisting of the Facility Managers, while the General Manager of Lagos State Infrastructure and Asset Management Agency, LASIAMA is to immediately proceed on suspension.
“The operations and line of reporting of the facility managers have been restructured to involve the hospital management directly,
We have 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 be negligent ” – he added
According to him, Engineers are working to unravel why all the safety devices of the elevator failed at the same time adding that, all the staff are fully insured and life insurance providers have been informed about the incident.