By Fatou Saho
A fire outbreak at the Childrens’ Unit of the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital yesterday gutted mattresses, mobile phones, a laptop, bulbs, breakers, sockets, part of the conference room and nearby rooms. There had been no reports of any harm to patients or staff.
Though, the cause of the fire is still yet to be established, the management assured that once they found out, they will try their best to ensure such incident doesn’t occur again.
“We have always been very watchful and always on the alert. We know that it is an accident and it has happened but this is not a common occurrence here,” Hospital spokesman Kebba Nyancho Sanneh explained.
The Chief Medical Director Dr. Mustapha Bittaye praised the quick and successful evacuation of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Pediatrics Emergency Ward and the Pediatrics Surgery Ward as a measure of precaution. He said that the hospital’s primary concern has been, and remains, the safety of patients and staff.
“The Fire Service remains on-site to ensure the area is fully secured. Our engineering and facilities teams are working to assess the situation and to ensure continuity of care for our young patients and plans are immediately in place to temporarily utilise our newly refurbished wards. This will allow us to continue providing essential services while a permanent solution is being developed. We understand the concern this may cause families and the public. We assure everyone that patient care continues in a safe and secure environment,” CMD Bittaye said.
