Dr. Florin Augustin Popa, medical director of the Slatina County Emergency Hospital, where an 81-year-old patient died while being transferred between wards after the elevator got stuck, explained to News.ro what happened. The representative of the facility says that the patient had numerous co-morbidities and the blocking of the elevator has nothing to do with the fact that the woman stopped cardiorespiratory immediately after it stopped between floors.

On Saturday morning, at 7:28, a medical team brought a patient with several concomitant diseases from the 5th floor to the 2nd floor to the intensive care unit. The doctor on duty, two nurses and a paramedic entered the elevator with the patient, says the medical director.

• “It is about an 81-year-old patient who was admitted to our hospital about a month ago, the patient was initially hospitalized in the department of internal medicine, a known patient with several concomitant diseases, including paraparesis, colon neoplasm, anemia, some of the concomitant diseases, during hospitalization in the medical department suspected meningoencephalitis, some neurological problems, for which she was transferred to neurology for additional examinations and specialized treatment, with the evolution, so to speak, not entirely favorable, because at some point an intensive care route was needed, the patient recovered, she’s back in neurology, so we arrive later on saturday, around 7 o’clock, when the doctor on duty has gone into the salons to check on patients. , how to act, he saw that the patient was not quite in order, for which he asked for the support of his colleagues in therapy for the transfer, he was and received support”, said the doctor Florin Augustin Popa.

A few seconds after launch, the elevator stalled. The blockage formed between the 5th and 4th floors, says the medical director. After a few minutes, between 3 and 5 minutes, the patient stopped, says the doctor. For more than half an hour, the team of doctors carried out resuscitation measures, and the on-duty cardiologist helped, he explained.

• “The transfer was prepared the way a serious patient is prepared, with a paramedic, two nurses, a doctor on duty, a first-aid kit, Ruben’s balloon, everything necessary if the patient’s condition worsens on the way, at 7 o’clock. and 28 a.u. got into the elevator, the elevator immediately after it was activated and locked after a few seconds, they exited from the 5th floor and between 4 and 5 it locked.
• They were in the elevator. After a few minutes, 3-5 minutes, the patient stops, the doctor begins resuscitation manipulations according to the protocol, resuscitation manipulations, which were performed the entire time they were standing in the elevator, we are talking about 33 minutes.
• The patient had numerous co-morbidities, her condition worsened in the neurological department and due to an accident, the cardio-respiratory system stopped in the elevator, from a medical point of view everything was as usual.
• In the elevator, the doctor on duty was assisted from the outside by the doctor on duty from cardiology, that is, he assisted and all that, plus they called the surgical intervention team, with which we have a contract for the maintenance of elevators, we are talking about the elevator, which has now been checked for one month, with a positive conclusion, on 15.11.
• The operative group was mobilized quite quickly, that is, it arrived in about 20 minutes. They discovered an imperfect contact on the door, which was corrected on the spot,” explained Popa’s doctor.

Resuscitation of the patient continued on the way to the intensive care unit.

• “At 8:15 a.m. the elevator was unlocked, at 8:55 a.m. the treating physician declared death. They managed to get out after 30 minutes, they continued CPR, and when they got out of the elevator, from the moment he stopped in the elevator until the moment he arrived in therapy, when he was pronounced dead, the resuscitation maneuvers were continuous, and they did not even stop for a moment If it happened in the cabin, the same thing happened.
• From a medical point of view, I have no doubt in my mind that this was done incorrectly.
• I tried to contact the patient’s family, I understand that they want to save her from the autopsy, that they said that they have no doubt that they have no problems, I know that it was done correctly,” said the medical director. hospitals

The patient stopped not because of a blocked elevator, says the medical director, but because of numerous illnesses. If a traffic jam had occurred, for example, in one of the salons, everything would have remained the same, he explains. Colleagues from the chipboard came on Saturday and found no violations, the doctor says.

• “The blocking of the elevator has nothing to do with what happened to the patient. According to medical opinion, only a patient suffering from claustrophobia can be injured in an elevator, but we are talking about a patient who was transferred to the intensive care unit, who was previously taken in the elevator, from the medical department of neurology, from Neurology in therapy, as well as other studies, which were conducted. She was not a patient who was immobilized with a wheelchair, with paraplegia, she was always mobilized only with an elevator.
• We were a little unfairly accused of wanting to cover up the case, the DSP staff was informed about the case on Saturday around noon by the hospital management and at the same time we also reported the incident to ANMCS.
• The manager ordered a thorough inspection of the elevators, this is not desirable and we do not want it to happen again, from a medical point of view everything is according to the protocols, the dsp colleagues came then on Saturday and did not find any violation, “the medical director explained to News.ro emergency hospital of Slatina district, doctor Augustyn Popa.

In this case, the police are conducting an investigation to establish the specific circumstances of the death of an 81-year-old patient. (Photo: Dreamstime.com)