POLICE in Kabwe have opened a docket and recorded statements from witnesses and the father of twins one of whom was allegedly pronounced dead by a doctor at Kabwe General Hospital only to later discover that the child was still alive.
And Dadly Bumba, father of the deceased twins, has since refused to bury the babies demanding the arrest of the doctor that certified one of the infants dead, long before she actually died.
Mr Bumba said after the death of the first baby, he had no confidence that his other child would survive, considering the harassment that he and his family received from the hospital staff after reporting the matter to Kabwe District Commissioner, Patrick Chishala.
Police recorded statements from witnesses from Kasavas area where the parents of the twins are residents.
Central Province Commissioner of Police Solomon Jere said police were today expected to summon all staff at the hospital involved in the matter for questioning.
Dr Jere said police were expecting those linked to the matter to assist in investigations, adding that the probe should not be viewed as persecution. He said after recording several statements from the father of the twins and other people, police opened a docket to ensure that the truth was established.
The twins were born prematurely from Elizabeth Nkombwe around 22.00 hours on Wednesday last week and one of the babies was, around 13:00 hours the following day, certified dead by a medical doctor at the hospital.
It was later discovered that the infant was breathing, and just at this point started crying, as it was being taken to the hospital mortuary.
However, the baby later died the same day at 18:30 hours while its twin died the following day around 21:00 hours.
Dr Jere said police were treating the matter as a possible criminal liability and were interested in knowing the doctor who declared the baby dead.
The police were also interested in knowing the members of staff who allegedly tore the death certificate obtained from Kasanda Police Station after discovering that the baby was still alive, as it was an offence under the laws of Zambia.
Mr Bumba’s mother-in-law, Eneless Nkombwe, has also expressed disappointment at the manner in which the hospital treated the family.
[Times of Zambia]
interesting. So what happened to the UTH case?
Your heading needs some correction i guess you meant opened
Let the doctor explain the criteria he used to pronounce the infant dead. What later caused that infant to die after everyone knew it was still alive?? I would blame the action taken after the baby cried and people knew it was alive than the doctor declaring it dead . the baby seriously had a second chance
No, “open” can still be used as a headline or title for a story…
they just killed his babies.cage them
Those babies were premature and delivered from home. it was difficult for them to survive. They born at 22:00hrs and taken to hospital the following day around 13:00hrs, If they were delivered from the hospital it was going to be ease to resuscitate them immediately they were born. That’s why home deliveries are discouraged. My sons are triplets and born prematurely at the hospital and the doctors and nurses managed to resuscitate them immediately after they were born. They told me if my wife delivered from home, I was going to lose them. It’s sad for nurses to tear the death certificate.
@WISEMAN
You sound like one of the medical staff!! But why pronounce somebody dead in anticipation? Since we are all dead in the long run, maybe you should be issuing us with death permits at birth anyway! Just admit that medical staff in Zambia are mainly incompetent, just like other so-called professionals (lawyers, bankers, engineers etc). Zambians are just to lazy to exercise professional care.
SO YOU CAN SEE HOW STUPID SOME NURSES ARE, THEY HAVE LANDED THEMSELVES IN TROUBLE BY TRYING TO COVER UP THE INADEQUACIES OF THE DOCTOR. WHY TEARING THE DOCUMENTS THAT INVOLVE SOMEONE’S DEATH? PLEASE NURSES WAKE UP AND STOP TRYING TO BE DOCTORS’ SAVIOURS WHEN THEY MADE A PROFESSIONAL BLUNDER. AT CHOMA HOSPITAL FOUR YEARS MY AUNT DIED WITHOUT BEING ATTENDED BY THE DOCTOR BECAUSE IT WAS WEEKEND WHEN I RIGHTLY KNOW THAT THERE IS ALWAYS A DOCTOR ON CALL AT THE HOSPITAL. WHEN SHE DIED THE DOCTOR CAME TO CERTIFY THE BODY. NURSES REFUSED TO CALL THE DOCTOR BUT DID SO WHEN MY DEAR AUNT WAS ALREADY GONE. CRUEL ATTITUDE AND LACK OF PROFESSIONALISM HAS ROBBED SOME NURSES OF RESPECT.
Nurses do sometimes cause deaths of patients unnecessarily by this cover up of their “bosses” the Doctors.
They deny patients access to Doctors, and cover blatant mistakes made by Doctors.
Cage the doctor, these hospitals are now Departure lodges. Someone goes there walking and the next thing you hear is they have died. A lot have probably been taken to the morgue alive and it is whilst there that they take their last breath.
police rule,over to ukwa
ETHICS & LOVE FOR YOUR JOB, ZAMBIAN NURSES HAVE VERY BAD ATTITUDE THAT WOULD DEFINITELY CAUSE ALL THIS, LET THEM BE JAILED SO THAT IT IS A LESSION TO OTHERS. Sad for the Family. May the Lord bless them in these difficult times?
Way to go, lets be reporting these lazy medical staff to the police!
No 9 Miles-Calling these people lazy is gross misstatement! These guys are bent on killing others. Saving life should not always be tied to monetary gain. The population of Zambia has lagged due to murderes like these people. Sometimes I wonder why umbulances continue harrassing motorists to give them way when nothing is done upon arrival at a medical facility like UTH! Medical staff there are so unconcerned and if emergency does not exist in their vocabularly what about mere care?
“Criminal liability????” The police seem not to know how to classify offences.
The closest charge he may lay, is one of Negligence. CRIMINAL, would mean the doctor intended to kill the child. The case we are told, is simply one of mis-diagnosis. It is all an unfortunate case, the twins were born out of hospital, it is well recognised that most twins are born premature, thus a combination of a twin birth, possible prematurity, possible exposure leading to hypothermia prior to hospital admission, & possibly an inexperienced clinician, as most are junior doctors, all of this factors may have conspired leading to the situation that occurred. Mr police chief, revise your possible charge!!
A MAN declared dead by Australian paramedics following a car crash was found to be alive around an hour later, sparking an investigation into the blunder. The driver was trapped upside down in the wreckage of a Porsche in a Melbourne suburb and was pronounced dead after being treated at the scene. Australian Broadcasting Corporation said after ambulances left the man remained in the car for up to an hour as police began their investigations.
It’s only when State Emergency Service volunteers finally began process of removing what they thought was a corpse that they discovered a “feeble pulse”. An ambulance was rushed back to crash site & the 30-year-old was taken to hospital in a critical condition. Ambulance Victoria said it was investigating the bungle with the two paramedics.
DECLARATION OF DEATH is not as simple as it sounds!!!