Doctor: Adib had bruises on chest wall, fractured ribs

INQUEST | An emergency doctor at a private hospital testified that the late Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim had bruises on the upper right side of his chest wall, besides having fractures on four ribs.

Dr M Nantha Kumeran, 39, who has been with the emergency department of Subang Jaya Medical Centre (SJMC) since 2013, said the X-ray reports of the fireman showed fractured second, third, fourth and fifth ribs (on the right side).

"(There were) also bruises on the upper right chest wall and when I touched it, (I could hear) cracking sound and appearing towards pneumothorax (collapsed lung).”

He said this when questioned by DPP Zhafran Rahim Hamzah, who is also a conducting officer of the inquest into Adib’s death.

The doctor, who has been practising medicine for 10 years now, said he first saw Adib in the resuscitation room of the SJMC in the wee hours of last Nov 27.

Zhafran: What is your observation?

Nantha: He (Adib) was having breathing difficulty, was unconscious and making incomprehensible sounds. I checked his pulse (rate), it was about 145 beats per minute, his blood pressure was at 85/46… oxygen saturation around 48 percent.

Zhafran: What else?

Nantha: No shirts, no shoes and no stockings. He (Adib) was wearing Bomba pants.

The doctor said he could not communicate with Adib at the time as he was only making (incomprehensible) sounds and his level of consciousness was low.

Nantha said he then ordered for an X-ray which was done at 1.35am on Nov 27 at the resuscitation room.

On the X-ray visualss, the doctor said he could see clearly that Adib was suffering from lung contusion.

Nantha: (I could see) broken ribs (in the X-ray) but more of (lung) contusion. The lung injuries were more than that of the ribs. Lung contusion is an injury to the lungs," he said.

Zhafran: What could cause lung contusion?

Nantha: Blunt trauma could cause lung injuries.

The doctor said the X-ray report showed there were white patches all over Adib’s lungs, which meant lung injuries or lung contusion.

He also said that prior to the X-ray, intubation, which is the process of inserting a tube through the mouth and then into the trachea, was done on Adib.

He said after one hour of treating Adib, he approached three Indian men who had brought Adib to SJMC to ask what happened to him.

All of them stated that Adib could have fallen from a (fire) truck or could be beaten up, he said.

Adib, who was an Emergency Medical Rescue Services personnel from the Subang Jaya Fire and Rescue Station, was critically injured in the temple riot on Nov 27 last year and died on Dec 17 at the National Heart Institute (IJN).

The inquest before coroner Rofiah Mohamad continues.

- Bernama