When does caution end and ignorance begin?
Arriving last night on British Airways, the uneventful flight taxied to its gate and while waiting to be towed to the stand, I sat wondering when we would be finally ashamed enough to repair the terminal’s long non-functional hydraulic fingers. Suddenly, the calm was shattered by the call for any medical personnel on board to make themselves known. My wife identified herself and with two other doctors on board, went to attend to the case at hand.
Two hours later, with the incredible effort of the BA cabin crew, well trained in CPR and officials from the Port Health Authorities, they battled ceaselessly to resuscitate and stabilise the passenger. As an anaesthetist, this was my wife’s area of primary expertise and having successfully brought her around thrice, needed to get her to an ICU immediately. A quick consultation determined that the nearest and best known private hospital in Ikeja would have the required expertise and equipment to save her life so she was lowered gingerly to the ambulance, CPR still underway and with sirens blaring, raced off for the 15 minute journey to safety. Sadly, despite it all, she never made it. The ICU was nonexistent, under renovation, it was said and the equipment required unavailable.
The real drama then started outside the hospital, the body lying perfectly still within the ambulance. Despite assurances that the patient, whose husband had with him her full medical report from the UK showing she had been tested to rule out Ebola, HIV and other diseases and was under medication for the ailment she eventually succumbed to, the morgue matron refused to accept the body. While this was well within their rights as a private hospital, I was shocked beyond belief when my wife asked to be allowed in to wash her hands and was refused. She then requested the matron send out water and soap for her and the ambulance crew and this was also rejected. The matron’s message was simple, “this hospital will not provide professional courtesy to any of our comrades-in-care in need. Go elsewhere and contaminate them for all I care”.
It was simply incredulous to me that she couldn’t comprehend the danger she was putting all of Nigeria under yet again should indeed a live Ebola case had been in that ambulance yesterday. We left for LASUTH where thankfully, seasoned, educated professionals asked the right questions and treated the dead with dignity and the living with the compassion deserved.
Does fear becloud your judgement and ignorance your empathy?