2024-01-06 05:18:44
The director of the San Juan de Dios General Hospital, José Miguel Alfaro, declared a hospital red alert due to failures in the electricity supply that have affected the operation of said healthcare center since last January 3.
According to Alfaro, the total loss of electrical energy triggered contingency measures to be activated, which include the partial use of the existing electrical plant and the management of others to cover the hospital’s needs.
The alert describes that engineers identified that the emergency was caused by a phase-to-ground fault that disconnected a main fuse in the system responsible for distributing electrical energy throughout the hospital.
The corrections include the provision and replacement of the affected wiring, as well as the replacement of connections, both interior and exterior.
In addition, it involves the installation of hardware, accessories and supplies necessary for the underground cable.
This alert level, according to the notice issued by the hospital director, implies the following actions and the attention of the staff:
Activation of the Hospital Risk Management Committee and the Hospital Emergency Operations Center (COEH). Develop emergency sessions of the Hospital Risk Management Committee to make timely decisions, for which all members must respond to the call as soon as possible. Guarantee the supply of disaster rooms for mass patient care. Enable patient classification areas and transfer patients without complications to second level care services with resolution capacity. Disconnect all non-essential electrical and electronic equipment: microwaves, radios, cell phones, personal speakers, coffee makers, etc. Turn off spotlights and light bulbs when the spaces where they are located are not being used, mainly during the day. Suspend elective surgeries until the hospital’s electrical system is restored.
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Press conference
In a press conference this Friday, January 5, authorities from the Ministry of Health reported on the crisis in San Juan de Dios.
The Minister of Health, Francisco Coma, detailed, in addition to the contingency plan, what the coordination is like with other hospitals for the transfer of patients and actions to maintain essential services.
Coma said that the patients have been referred to the Pedro de Betancourt hospitals in Antigua Guatemala, Amatitlán, Villa Nueva and the National Reference for Respiratory Diseases and Children’s Infectology and Rehabilitation hospitals, in response to the electrical emergency.
It also indicated that it has coordinated with the National Laboratory and other hospitals to ensure essential services, such as the processing of clinical laboratory samples and laundry services.
The fire departments were also given instructions in order to know how to classify what type of patients can be treated at San Juan de Dios and which should be referred when requiring special care.
Regarding the solution to the problem, as they explained, 1,500 meters of underground wiring is being replaced, and the work is expected to last at least 24 more hoursthat is, until at least Saturday, January 6.
Although the fault was initially believed to be in the substation, it was identified in the wiring that supplies power to the hospital.
Despite the crisis, generators have the capacity to provide basic life support to patients in critical units.
The Minister of Health, Francisco Coma, together with the director of the San Juan de Dios General Hospital, José Miguel Alfaro, and the Project Coordinator, engineer Julio Ajanel, offer a press conference this Friday, January 5 to address the electrical crisis in the healthcare center. (Free Press Photo: Gabriel Morales)
Non-priority hallways are kept unlit as a way to save energy and, according to Coma, they coordinated with other hospitals for specific services.
In terms of operation, in areas such as Pediatrics, care and monitoring continue, managing transfers if necessary. An exclusive floor has been set up for Maternity, although some Emergency services are limited due to the electrical situation.
The director of the center explained that the plant has received maintenance, and although the wiring has been monitored at various points, the current situation is unforeseen, since some cables are more than 40 years old.
Alfaro assures that there are no reports of deaths directly attributed to this power supply problem at the institution and that so far the exact duration of the power lack has not been quantified.
Currently, the hospital houses 688 patients, and according to what he said, seven people died in the last few hours from various causes, but he assures they are not associated with the failure.
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