MEDICAL equipment and consumables worth US$3,5 million went up in flames when a fire broke out at Beitbridge District Hospital in Matabeleland South province following a suspected electrical fault yesterday morning.
No one was injured.
In addition to being a district referral hospital for a
population of about 30 000 residents, the 140-bed health facility also caters
for the in-transit population passing through Beitbridge Border Post.
An estimated 15 000 people pass through the border town
daily, with figures increasing to more than 25 000 during peak periods.
As a stop-gap measure, health authorities have started
deploying equipment from Gwanda Provincial Hospital following the destruction
of equipment at the Beitbridge District Hospital Theatre where surgical
operations are carried out. On average five minor surgical operations are done
daily.
The fire broke out in the facility’s recovery room at
around 10 AM destroying medical equipment and infrastructure. Beitbridge
District Medical Officer, Dr Lenos Samhere said they have since sent a list of
the equipment that is urgently required.
“The situation is very bad and we urgently need equipment
because for a hospital like this one, we can’t operate without a theatre. So,
as a stop-gap measure, we are mobilising equipment from our provincial hospital
in Gwanda so that we may in the interim, use the small theatre in our Out
Patient Department to handle critical cases,” he said.
“With the help of personnel from the department of public
works, we are investigating the cause of the fire and compiling a bill of
quantities for tendering so that we get the theatre working again.”
Dr Samhere said most of the consumables in the 20-room
theatre were damaged by the smoke. Ms Patience Bere, a theatre nurse who
witnessed the incident, said she was busy preparing for surgery when she
noticed smoke billowing out from the burning recovery room.
“I rushed to inspect the origins of the smoke and noticed
that it was coming from one of the electrical beds in the recovery room. I
immediately alerted the hospital management and they contacted the emergency
services,” she said.
“Luckily, some patients who had come for surgery were still
outside the building and it was easy to move them to a safer place.”
A nurse in charge of the theatre, Mr Thomas Mlalazi, said
the hospital handles an average of five minor surgical operations and at least
one birth by C-section daily.
Beitbridge Municipality’s chief fire officer, Mr George
Maseko said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
He, however, said preliminary investigations suggested that
the fire could have been caused by an electrical fault.
Mr Maseko said when their fire fighters arrived at the
scene, they found the entire building covered in smoke, which made it difficult
for them to establish the source of the fire.
“We only managed to establish the spot where the fire
started after breaking windows and doors to access one of the rooms. It took us
less than seven minutes to contain the fire and the theatre recovery room where
several delicate pieces of equipment were kept,” he said.
“We had to strategically manage the fire so that it could
not spread to other 19 rooms within the theatre. Most of the equipment and
consumables were affected by the heat and the smoke”.
The district maintenance officer in the department of
public works, Mr Admore Tlou said they have started assessing the structural
damages to the building.
He said the fireproof ceiling in the recovery room where
the fire started helped slow down the spread of the inferno.
A resident, Mr Innocent Mudau, urged Beitbridge Municipality
and the local Civil Protection Committee to engage their counterparts in Musina
for assistance in the event of disasters and other emergencies.
“We are appealing to authorities to liaise with their
colleagues in Musina considering that they are just 12km away. Transporting
patients could be easier compared to driving for over 300km to the next
facility in Bulawayo,” he said.
Another resident, Ms Veronica Moyo appealed to community
members to mobilise resources to facilitate the transfer of patients that
urgently require surgery to other hospitals.
Beitbridge Rural District Council has twinned with South
Africa’s Vhembe District Municipality in Limpopo Province in a bid to
strengthen economic, social and development ties.
Vhembe Municipality runs several towns including Makhado,
Thulamela, Collins Chabane and Musina.
Beitbridge Municipality and Musina Municipality have
started working on a twinning arrangement that will see the two local
authorities signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under the Trans-Limpopo
Spatial Development Initiative (TLSDI).
The arrangement will enhance cooperation between the two
border towns, which share a lot in common in terms of cultural identities,
economic ties and cross-cutting challenges that come with their geographical
locations as Sadc region’s biggest trade corridor. Chronicle
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