The Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) has admitted that their intensive care unit (ICU) was filled to capacity between December 31, 2020 and January 1, 2021 during which time accident victim, a Diamond Hospital nurse, Danata Damon succumbed to her injuries.
Damon was slated to be admitted to the ICU but almost twenty-four hours following her arrival at the hospital, she remained a patient in the emergency room (ER) where she subsequently died.
Stabroek News had previously learnt from the now dead woman’s brother, Jason Damon, that he and his family were told that his sister needed to be taken to the ICU but said that afterwards they were told the ICU was filled.
When this newspaper reached out to the GPH, it was confirmed by the hospital’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Chelauna Providence, that the ICU was indeed full. “Based on information received, she was brought into the accident and emergency [ward] where she was being treated while they were trying to make some provisions for her to be taken up to the ICU and sometime during the course of treatment, she arrested and she died. We did have a full ICU but provisions were being made for her to be accommodated,” Providence related. Damon who was admitted to the hospital last Thursday evening succumbed to her injuries the following day at 5.30pm.
The hospital’s ICU, the PRO stated, has the capacity to cater for 12 beds. She noted also that at the time Damon arrived at the hospital, there were other patients arriving at the hospital as well, though it wasn’t said whether these persons also needed to be placed in the ICU.
In previous interviews prior to the ICU at the Infectious Disease Hospital at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara, being operational, Providence had explained that the GPH had an ICU for the regular ER cases while there was also a COVID ICU that catered for 16 beds. When asked whether the former COVID ICU’s space was sanitised and is being used as part of the current ICU, Providence stated that at present, that space is not being used.
Jason had previously said that after the ICU was filled, his sister was put on a life-support machine at 1pm on Friday. He had said that she had suffered broken limbs and needed surgery but doctors required that a CT scan be done first before surgery could be carried out. Jason who had arrived at the hospital at around 7.30pm after learning of the accident, shared that after the family learnt that a CT scan needed to be done, they were told that she could be eligible for a discount. However, when he further inquired about this from other officials at the hospital, he was told that Damon needed to have been working at the institution to be given a discount. Following the payment, a CT scan was done on his sister around 11pm that night. Surgery was never done.
The deceased’s brother when contacted again yesterday, posited that even if the ICU was full, surgery should have been done. He added that had the hospital done things differently, he is certain that Damon would have been in recovery today.
He had previously shared that attention wasn’t given to his sister immediately and that when he arrived at the hospital, his sister was vomiting and he, along with a neighbour, were trying to take care of her in the ER. Jason said his sister asked him to rub her back for her as she was nauseous but not being sure if he could do so, he asked a nurse nearby whether it was allowed. The nurse, who he said was on her phone, turned to him to reply and in doing so recognized the now dead woman as a colleague. Jason recalled the nurse getting up and giving his sister an injection to prevent her from vomiting.
Three others were also seriously injured in the accident including the driver of the car in which Damon was a passenger and the driver and passenger of a lorry.
Investigations revealed that about 5pm on the Coverden Public Road, East Bank Demerara, the lorry, GYY 3116, was proceeding north along the western side of the road allegedly at a fast rate and in the process of swerving from a pothole, the driver lost control and ended up in the path of the car PRR 1821 which was proceeding south.
Damon, a mother of a three-year-old son, was on her way home from work when the accident occurred.
A post mortem is scheduled to be done on the woman’s body today.
