HKL probing ‘incidents’ linked to alleged ventilator failure

 

Hospital Kuala Lumpur will investigate any complications arising during treatment of patients, its director said.

PETALING JAYA: Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) has confirmed it is investigating incidents reported in the media on Saturday involving the use of ventilators in the treatment of patients.

In a statement, HKL director Dr Rohana Johan said all complications occurring during the treatment of patients are investigated in accordance with the health ministry’s incident report management guidelines.

“The hospital, with the cooperation of its concessionaire, constantly seeks to ensure that all medical equipment used in the treatment of patients is monitored and undergoes scheduled maintenance to ensure patients receive quality treatment,” she said.

Yesterday, FMT reported that a patient died while another was declared brain dead in two incidents occurring within a week of each other at a Klang Valley hospital.

A source attributed the deaths to the alleged failure of ventilators at the hospital.

In the first case, the source claimed medical personnel failed to resuscitate a patient who had been rendered unconscious following the alleged malfunction of a ventilator.

In the second incident, the source said a patient was declared brain dead after being found to have been unconscious for 15 minutes. The patient was said to have been put under general anaesthesia in an attempt to locate and extract a fishbone from the patient’s throat.

According to doctors, denying the brain oxygen for more than 15 minutes is likely to result in a patients’ death or brain death.

A source also claimed there were two other cases of ventilator failure. One patient was successfully revived following cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), while the condition of the other remains unknown. - FMT