Woman dies in elevator accident at hospital
PHOTO: FILE
Hours after giving birth, a woman died at the same hospital after falling down the elevator shaft on Wednesday. The incident took place while the woman was being moved between floors by the staff at the hospital in Karimabad, Federal B Area.
A resident of Gulistan-e-Johar Block 2, Samia Arshad worked at the Darul Sehat Hospital. She had given birth to a baby girl a few hours earlier.
Central district Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Maroof Usman said that the hospital staff was taking the victim on a stretcher from the ground floor to the upper floor of the hospital. After arriving at the second floor, the hospital staff was taking the woman out of the elevator. She was half way out when the elevator suddenly started moving up towards the third floor.
The door was still open yet the lift kept moving up. The victim fell from the stretcher and down the shaft - around 20 feet. The stretcher also fell on her.
SSP Usman said Saima died of head injuries. He said they were investigating to ascertain who was responsible for the negligence.
The woman's husband and family gave it in writing to the police that they did not want to pursue legal action at that time. They wanted to consult with their elders if they should take legal action. Following this, the body was handed over to the family.
The family did say that the elevators at the hospital were already out of order. To still use them was tantamount to playing with the lives of the patients and their attendants.
The Sindh Health Department stated that it was not its domain to take legal action against the private hospital. The responsibility lies with the Sindh Healthcare Commission.
Sindh Healthcare Commission CEO Dr Ahsan Qavi said that they could only act after they had received a complaint from the patient or their heirs. "So far, we have just got the news through media. The family members have not reported it to us."
One person representing the hospital management confirmed the version of events narrated by the police. "Half of the stretcher was inside the elevator and the other half was outside. It was when the lift suddenly moved up," they said.
The spokesperson said that the two employees responsible for transferring the were injured. They gave her CPR and rushed her to the intensive care unit," they said.
"We would not have used the lift if there had been previous concerns about it," the spokesperson claimed. "The hospital elevator receives maintenance every fortnight."
One person speaking to The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity said that the Sindh Healthcare Commission team had visited the hospital and inquired about the maintenance log. The hospital administration did not provide the log but assured the commission that it would be provided the next day.''
Published in The Express Tribune, February 16th, 2023.