Blood shortage at Linden Hospital Complex necessitated transfer – CEO

Dec 24, 2010 News

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By Michael Jordan

A shortage of blood at the Linden Hospital Complex was one of the factors that caused two doctors to transfer maternity patient, Inga Nieuenkirk, to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), approximately 104 kilometes (65 miles) away, Chief Executive Officer Gordon Gumbs said yesterday.
The CEO told Kaieteur News that the hospital had less than eight units available when the 23-year-old was admitted. He revealed that Nieuenkirk was diagnosed with a condition that could cause hemorrhaging.
“For a case like that where there is likely hemorrhaging, there is need for eight to nine units of blood…we did not have that (at the hospital),” Gumbs stated.
Other medical sources said that only two units of blood were available.
The CEO explained that blood that is collected at the Linden Hospital has to be first sent to the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) in Georgetown for screening before it can be used in transfusions at the Linden facility.
He disclosed that the hospital only has the capability to test blood for malaria and conduct a screen test for syphilis.
Gumbs explained that this situation obtains at all the regional hospitals. “But based on this experience (Nieuenkirk’s death) it looks as if we have to review this situation.”
A medical source said that complete blood testing was conducted at the Linden Hospital up to about two years ago, but this system was changed.
Some medical sources are of the view that the physicians who examined Nieuenkirk should have utilised the blood that was available before having her transferred, since the long journey to the city most likely caused her condition to worsen.
Medical sources said that Nieuenkirk was diagnosed with Placental abruption, a serious condition in which the placenta separates from the wall of the uterus before delivery.
The placenta may also be discharged before the baby is delivered. This condition causes the baby to be deprived of oxygen and nutrients, and the mother may experience life-threatening bleeding.
The CEO told Kaieteur News that Nieuenkirk was admitted to the Linden Hospital Complex at around 01:30 hrs on Wednesday last. Medical staff who examined her failed to detect a fetal heartbeat, which showed that the baby was dead.
“The baby had already died and they had to work on the mother.”
At the time, the Specialist/Obstetrician was out of the district, so the hospital’s Medical Director, Dr. Riyasat, who has some experience in the field of obstetrics and gynecology, and another physician examined the patient.
“They were called out at around 02:00 hrs and after examining the patient, they made the decision to refer (to GPHC).”
Gumbs said that the fact that the hospital’s Specialist/Obstetrician was not available to examine Nieuenkirk was another factor that caused the physicians to have her transferred.
“One of the things that doctors take into consideration is whether they have the capability to take care if the matter, or whether the after-care facilities are available.”
Nieuenkirk, who is from Linden, succumbed hours after delivering a stillborn by Caesarean section at the GPHC.The woman’s death raised questions as to why she was brought to Georgetown instead of having her surgery at the Linden Hospital Complex’s Theatre.
Kurwyn Greene, Nieuenkirk’s reputed husband, explained that Nieuenkirk began experiencing labour pains and he assisted in taking her to the Linden Hospital. Minutes after his wife’s admission, Greene said nurses told him that they failed to receive any signs that the baby was alright.
He claims that it was the nurses who were doing everything, and a doctor only came after 45 minutes to the hospital – only after being summoned by the same nurses.
The man further told this publication that Nieuenkirk left the Linden Hospital Complex sometime around 03:45hrs.
Upon her arrival at GPHC she was immediately rushed to the operating theatre.
“She was bleeding….but she was still talking to me,” Greene recounted.
Greene said he was told by the nurses that he should go home and return at midday since the woman would be in the theatre for some time. He said he returned at lunchtime and his wife was out of the theatre but was in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
The man said he could not understand what could have gone so wrong within that short space of time.
Greene said that when he visited his wife in the Intensive Care Unit she was vomiting and streaks of blood were evident. He said after spending some time at the ICU, he left. Around 20:00hrs on Wednesday, Greene said he received a telephone call from the hospital saying that Nieuenkirk had died.
The GPHC and other public hospitals have been plagued with an alarming upsurge in maternal deaths in recent months.

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