…staffer faces termination
An investigation launched into the death of local powerlifter Rawndel Clementson at the Diamond Hospital, East Bank Demerara (EBD) has unearthed negligence at the facility, and one hospital staffer is expected to face termination.
Inews understands that an attendant in question was not on duty as was scheduled. As Clementson was awaiting medical attention after visiting the facility, he lost consciousness. Since the worker was not there at the time, doctors had no choice but to tend to the man on the floor.
Family members of Clementson, who was a national powerlifting champion and resident of Farm, EBD, had sounded calls for a thorough investigation into the operation of the Diamond Regional Hospital. They had contended that the institution was responsible for the death of their loved one.
Clementson, 44, passed away one hour after he was admitted to the hospital on June 20. He had reportedly complained of feeling unwell, and his wife Oslyn Richards had taken him to the hospital.
Upon arriving at the facility, Clementson had informed the staff on duty about the difficulty he was having in breathing and the dizziness he was experiencing, and had requested an oxygen mask.
Despite the urgency of Clementson’s condition, he was instructed to wait. It was while he was awaiting medical attention that he reportedly fainted, thus causing him to lose balance and fall off the chair on which he was sitting. After the fall, he died almost immediately.
The aggrieved wife, in recounting the harrowing experience, stated that when her husband fell to the ground, she called for assistance. The hospital staff allegedly stated that he was too heavy to be lifted, and Richards had to seek help from a security guard and her son while the nurse “rudely” walked away.
“I took out my phone to record, and they asked me to leave. About 20 minutes later, they called me in and said they couldn’t detect a pulse. I begged them to do more, and started to pray,” Richards had initially told this publication.
The suddenness of Clementson’s death shocked his family, as he had been working the day before and seemed fine. A postmortem examination later revealed that his cause of death was complications arising from high blood pressure.
