Region Four Health Officer, Dr Gavinash Persaud says a refresher course in life support training will be held for personnel at the Diamond Diagnostic Centre following reports of the poor treatment of powerlifter Rawndel Clementson who later succumbed.
In an interview with Stabroek News on Tuesday Dr Persaud said that the reports of what transpired at the Centre when the late powerlifter went there for treatment have been reviewed.
His findings revealed that there was a deficit in staff training and to counter this issue 50 technical persons mainly doctors and nurses have been selected for a refresher course in life support training. They will also be trained in advanced cardiac life support. When asked about what’s being done for the family, Persaud said that he spoke to the wife of Clementson and they seemed pleased with what they were going to do.
Stabroek News subsequently spoke to the wife of Clementson who said that since the incident at the hospital no one has made contact with them concerning anything about her late husband’s case. Clementson passed away on June 20 at the Diamond Diagnostic Centre after complaining of heart palpitations. According to his wife he was refused an oxygen mask which he had requested upon entry into the hospital, he subsequently fell to the floor where he later passed away.
According to Oslyn, due to the negative reports about the Diamond Diagnostic Centre, she tried to dissuade her husband from going to there to seek medical attention but since it was the closest one to where they live she reluctantly agreed and took him anyway.
On his arrival at the hospital Rawndel requested an oxygen mask relating that he was unable to breathe properly and was feeling dizzy.
“They told him to sit and wait, I asked them to come and look at him,” Oslyn said. She was subsequently informed that there was a procedure in place for patients. The woman recalled that less than two minutes later Rawndel fell onto the hospital floor. She said she raised an alarm for the nurses to come and assist her with lifting him back into the chair but no one responded.
“They refused to lift him saying that he has too much body weight and that they couldn’t lift him,” Oslyn related when asked about what was done after he fell. “There was a strong young doctor there and other nurses, I even asked the security guard [but] no one came to assist me.”
Her son arrived soon after and she again asked for some assistance from a nurse in lifting her husband with the help of her son and was told by the nurse “.. .your son can lift him.”
Her daughter then arrived and the taxi driver who she had travelled with assisted them in lifting her husband off the floor.
After they placed him on a bed with the assistance of the taxi driver, approximately 20 minutes later they were informed by a nurse that there was no pulse and that they didn’t want to try using the Automated External Defibrillator (AED) to jumpstart his heart.
“Y’all try something more, I pleaded with them. My daughter who is also a trained medical professional tried doing CPR but that didn’t work and they didn’t even try assisting her. She even asked them for a pulse reading [and] they ignored her,” the distraught wife stated as she recalled what happened that morning.
The Diamond Hospital was re-commissioned in April 2021 by the Ministry of Health to fully serve residents living on the East Bank Demerara after over $200 million in upgrades undertaken under the ‘Smart Health Care Facilities in the Caribbean’ project.
