Msizi Mkhize, 28, was walking home with a friend
when he was hit in Kwa-Mashu, a township north of the coastal city of Durban,
last week. He was declared dead at the scene of the accident then his body
was transported to the Phoenix mortuary, where his body was placed in a
fridge.
Imran Keeka, a provincial official for the opposition Democratic Alliance party, said Tuesday:
Imran Keeka, a provincial official for the opposition Democratic Alliance party, said Tuesday:
“When his family
arrived for identification purposes a pulse was found in the patient by
mortuary staff, who then immediately transported him to Mahatma Gandhi hospital
for resuscitation,”
Msizi was resuscitated by nurses and his family was
informed of his resuscitation. However, five hours later, Msizi
unfortunately died. Understandably, his irate family are now demanding
answers.
His Dad Peter Mkhize said:
His Dad Peter Mkhize said:
“I have no words to
express how I feel about what happened to my child. “To spend the entire night
and morning in the mortuary refrigerator is wrong.”
The distraught dad described the rollercoaster of
emotions that began with him arriving at the morgue at 8am to identify his
son’s body and was informed some four hours later that his son was in fact
alive – only for him to once again be declared dead five hours after that.
Peter added:
Peter added:
“That day will
forever be etched in my mind.” And Msizi’s sister Hlobisile demanded to know
who originally declared her brother dead, describing the entire ordeal as
“painful and stressful for the family”.
Keeka said the incident indicated the extent of the
problems facing the province’s health department saying:
“What we want to know
is what level of training did the staff have who declared him dead? What were
the protocols?”
Dr Rishigen Viranna, a GP, said:
“There is a concept
in emergency medicine care known as the ‘Golden Hour’, where after trauma a
patient has the best chance of good outcome if hospital or medical treatment is
received within the first hour. “This did not occur in this case. However, the
true cause of death will be determined after a post-mortem has been completed.”
The South African health
department has begun an inquiry into what actually took place at the scene of
the accident.
Source: The Sun
Source: The Sun
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