In the middle of the
\npandemic, Romania is in mourning because of a new tragedy. On Saturday night, a
\nnumber of patients diagnosed with Covid-19 burned alive at the County Emergency
\nHospital in Piatra Neam\u021b
\n(in the north-east of the country), in a fire that broke out in the intensive
\ncare unit where they were being treated. <\/p>\n
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Witnesses say everything happened very fast: a syringe
\npump connected to electricity and used to administer medication to the patients
\ncaught fire. The protective suit of a nurse standing nearby also caught fire
\nand then the blaze spread quickly. The doctor on duty who tried to save the
\npatients was badly injured, suffering severe burns on 40% of his body and being
\nlater taken to Bucharest to undergo surgery and then transferred to a hospital
\nin Belgium.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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Shortly after the tragedy occurred, a team of
\nprosecutors, police and fire experts began inquiries. The investigation is led
\nby Marius Iacob, the same prosecutor who coordinated the investigations into
\nthe fire at the Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest five years ago, when 65 people
\nwere killed, and at the Giule\u015fti maternity hospital in Bucharest in 2010 when
\nsix prematurely born babies died and five others suffered severe burns. <\/p>\n
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The terrible accident in Piatra Neam\u0163 once again
\nshows why the Romanian healthcare system needs profound change, said president
\nKlaus Iohannis, who conveyed his condolences to the grieving families. Unfortunately,
\nthe pandemic has pushed the system to the limit, the president also said, and
\ntechnicians must make sure that the equipment used is working properly. He called
\nfor the circumstances of the accident to be investigated quickly so as to
\nidentity what went wrong and prevent similar situations in the future. <\/p>\n
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Prime minister Ludovic Orban has announced a series
\nof inspections at all intensive care units around the country:<\/p>\n
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I have requested joint teams from the Public
\nHealth Directorate, namely sanitary inspectors, and the county inspectorates
\nfor emergency situations, namely firefighters, to carry out an assessment beginning
\non Monday in all intensive care units and check all gas supplying installations
\nand whether they comply with the regulations in place with respect to patients
\nand staff safety in intensive care units.<\/p>\n
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Investigators into the
\ncause of the fire have already conducted searches and interviewed witnesses and
\nhave begun to check the documents and approvals authorising the functioning of
\nthe ward, all the more so as a number of changes were made recently to the
\nhospital’s organisation, including in order to enhance the capacity of the
\nintensive care unit. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hospital accident again puts spotlight on the problems faced by Romanian healthcare system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":87244,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[29420],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-87243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-fire"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n