Ventilator that caught fire in HQE 2 was a new machine, says Health DG

 

The ventilator that caught fire at Hospital Queen Elizabeth 2 (HQE 2) in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, earlier today was a new machine procured this year, according to the Health Ministry.

Its director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah told reporters today that he believes the incident did not have anything to do with the issue of old equipment.

"I have yet to receive a full report on this. But this may be not about the ventilator.

"Because we have 1,556 ventilators, and the capacity of usage now is only about 100. So we still have the capacity.

"And this ventilator we had procured only recently, during the second wave (of the Covid-19 pandemic)," he said.

Noor Hisham was commenting on the incident that occurred at the High Dependency Unit (HDU) of HQE 2 this afternoon, which saw a ventilator suddenly catch fire while it was in use by a patient.

[More to follow] - Mkini