Was a hospital's electrical outage responsible for the deaths of four newborn babies? Al-Ahram Weekly reports on what is possibly a strange, tragic coincidence It was the press that uncovered the deaths of four infants and one adult in Al-Matariya General Hospital, Egypt's second biggest hospital after Al-Qasr Al-Aini, following a power cut of two hours, reports Reem Leila. Pictures of the infants in a poorly state were laid out on the front pages after being leaked to a few newspapers and satellite TV. One person reading the news was the health minister who filed a report with the prosecutor-general demanding a thorough investigation. Oddly, while the incident occurred on 22 May it took until 5 June before an investigation began. The premature babies were kept in incubators attached to ventilators in the pediatric ward, while the adult was in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) when the blackout occurred at 4:30am and lasted for two hours. The four babies were among 15 neonatal infants placed in incubators. Whether the power cut was indeed responsible for their deaths is uncertain. According to official reports the incubators and ventilators did not shut down during the power failure since they were all equipped with built-in batteries that can last for up to two hours. However, the hospital's manual generator kicked in almost 20 minutes after the power cut because of a technical deficiency, but the delay reportedly did not affect neither the incubators nor the ventilators. Mohamed Ahmed Emara, a neonatal specialist who was in charge at the time of the deaths, claimed one of the newborns, who weighed just 800 grammes and was suffering from septicemia, or blood poisoning, died almost three hours before the power was cut. The other neonatal, weighing 1,600gm, died two hours before the outage. The remaining two died a few hours after the power returned, Emara said. "The power cut had nothing to do with the infants' death. Although the electricity was cut, the ICU and the incubators were working on built-in batteries," confirmed Emara. "If the power cut was the cause of the death of the four newborns and the adult, then all the 15 neonatal infants should have died. "One of the premature babies placed in an incubator with a ventilator is still alive," Emara added. "The adult who died in the ICU was suffering several health complications. As such, he was destined to die with or without the power cut," Abdel-Rahman Shahin, official spokesman to the minister of health, said. A high-level committee from the Ministry of Health was formed to conduct a comprehensive investigation. Murtagi Negm, secretary-general of the General Authority for Hospitals and Educational Institutions (GAHEI), and who heads the committee, said the committee will reveal to the public the full truth regarding the incident. "I will not tolerate or be merciful towards any deficiency or negligence that might have occurred at Al-Matariya Hospital," said Health Minister Hatem El-Gabali, who reported the incident to Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif. El-Gabali asked that hasty conclusions not be reached and to wait for the findings of the investigations being conducted by the ministry as well as the public prosecution. "This event is painful, and should not pass without an investigation to reveal all the details and to see if there was any suspected negligence and who is responsible, if anybody," Shahin said, stressing the need to bring any suspect individuals to justice and immediate punishment. According to Shahin, a neonatal specialist and two nurses helping him were performing their routine follow-up on the infants and were not trying to save their lives as the press attempted to portray the situation. They were just doing their job. They were giving them their regular medicine that must be taken on time. "They cannot risk their lives by waiting for the electricity to return. It was just an unfortunate coincidence that the power went off," Shahin added. Medical sources at Al-Matariya Hospital said doctors had complained several times about repeated power cuts -- they said there was a blackout just three weeks ago -- and that the electrical control switch was not working well. Following the incident, Osama Gamil, manager of Al-Matariya Hospital, offered to tender his resignation but the request was denied pending the conclusion of the investigation. Gamil has so far refused to issue any statements. Neither the CD of the incident, which tracks the physician and nurses during their routine check-up on the infants, nor published photos in newspapers and the Internet show any shortcomings in procedures. "Emara and the two accompanying nurses did an excellent job considering the circumstances they were working in. Neonatal babies die everyday for various reasons. But, the power cut has nothing to do with the deaths in this specific incident," Negm said. El-Gabali has given Emara a financial bonus equivalent to three months salary, and two months salary for each of the two nurses "for the great effort they exerted and for performing their job in the face of difficult circumstances," Shahin said. Al-Matariya General Hospital, with 850 beds and 34 incubators, is affiliated to the GAHEI, and underwent a comprehensive overhaul last year. But, according to Shahin, the hospital is in need of more renovation which will be conducted this year and next. In 2007 Al-Matariya delivered 2,106 neonatal babies. During the first quarter of 2008, 331 babies were born in Al-Matariya. Thirty-seven died, an 11 per cent mortality rate. The mortality rate of GAHEI's 10 hospitals is 17.3 per cent.
