…He was brought in dead to general hospital, Sagbama, says Chief Matron

YENAGOA – The Chief Matron of General Hospital, Sagbama, who was by the bedside of the late Professor Prince Efere of the University of Africa, Toru-Orua(UAT) in his last moment, has thrown more light into the circumstances that surrounded his sudden death.

She recounted how it all happened thus: “I was at work on Wednesday, June 13th when he was rushed into the hospital at 4: 45pm. 

“He was brought in dead. This is what we call BID in the medical profession. I am taking my time to explain this because l am a witness.

“Moreover, l want to use this opportunity to urge us to take the issue of our health seriously. It may not be wrong to say that he died of heart attack.

“Meanwhile, the autopsy will eventually give the cause of his sudden death. 

“By the grace of God, l did my Masters in (International Nursing Studies) in the UK, and returned only last year. The sudden deaths in Nigeria is as a result of our poor health system.

“I witnessed the standard of health care in the UK. How on earth will a university of that caliber with doctors and nurses made available by the Hospitals Management Board not make provision for resuscitation in their Sick -Bay. 

“How much does it take for the University Authorities to get Oxygen and other resuscitation equipments in their Sick- Bay? 

The Medical Personnels are as good as nothing, with nothing to work with.

“Therefore, my suggestion is that we should personally take our destinies into our hands in relation to our health. 

“As l earlier said, late Prof. Efere was rushed into the hospital, and was accompanied by a nurse and some university staff.  We also responded as fast as possible to see that he was resuscitated.

“Unfortunately, there was no life in him; he was already dead. There was no pulse or heartbeat. After knowing this, we still did not just disclose it.

“We still rushed him to our emergency room and. applied some resuscitative procedure. Nurses and doctors were very much on ground to attend to him.

“We did this to reduce the tension on ground. As at then, the whole hospital was filled up with the university staff. The VC was also around. I then made it clear to them that the death would not have happened if they had the necessary tools for resuscitation. 

“The shock was too much for them to bear. It was at this point that some of them became so angry and began to speak against the non-equipment of the sick-bay.

“I am made to understand that series of letters have been raised to this effect which was not taken seriously.”

Going further, she stated: “Must we wait for calamity to occur before we do the needful in this country? Why must we be wasting precious lives that even an equipment not expensive can keep the person alive?  

“Not even resuscitative drugs were available in their sick-bay. What kind of people are we? 

“The Chaplain of the university gave a firsthand account of what happened. He did mention that he was with the late Professor Efere in his office when the incidence occurred.

“That he was in the process of signing a document when he slumped in his office. I thank God that somebody was in the office with him to have raised alarm.

“He was then assisted to the sick-bay. One minute of waste of time in emergency cases can lead to death. If they had an ambulance they would have gotten to General Hospital Sagbama on time.

“The time they wasted to start looking for a vehicle to put him was enough to do one or two things in the ambulance, with the nurse inside.  The ambulance, which is supposed to be equipped with Oxygen, should have sustained him down to the hospital.

“If they also had oxygen in the sick-bay, which should have sustained him before transferring him to the ambulance. 

“That is how lives are been wasted every day. Nobody would have even known that a life was lost if not for the calibre of the don.

“It really bleeds my heart that we are so unserious with the issues of health in this country. What percentage of the 2018 budget was allocated to h. Check it and you will be amazed. 

“We had to use the hospital ambulance to take his corpse to Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Yenagoa. I drove my car and followed the ambulance down to FMC from Sagbama.”

By Brakerekebina Birinimighan

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