A pregnant woman who was undergoing an emergency caesarian section is said to have died after a power failure during the operation at Loloma Mission hospital.
Manyinga residents protested over the death of the 41 year old expectant mother.Scores of residents complained to ZANIS that they are not happy with the death of Ireen Jimba who died around 02.00 hours on the 16th January at Loloma Mission Hospital as medical personnel carried out a caesarean operation
The residents blamed the death of Ms Jimba who died in the theatre as she was undergoing a caesarean delivery on ZESCO and negligence by health personnel at the hospital.
Zesco power failures have become a norm in Zambia and the impact this has been having on hospitals across the country is largely undocumented.
But hospital authorities have denied the allegations that the expectant mother died due to a ZESCO power failure at the hospital.
Both hospital sister-in-charge Marrian Ronald and Relief Doctor Mcmmon Richard told ZANIS that Ireen Jimba died of severe high blood pressure.Sister Ronald said Ms Jimba of Bilembuluka village had been on Blood pressure and Anaemia medication during her pregnancy.
She said when Ms Jimba attended her antenatal clinic last week her BP shot up and was advised to be admitted but the deceased declined.
The Sister informed ZANIS that Ms Jimba had a successful delivery under caesarean operation and gave birth to a baby girl and later died due to severe high blood pressure contrary to allegations of power interruption or negligence being publicised by members of the community.
And Dr Richards has advised expectant mothers both in rural and urban areas to heed medical advice to avoid unnecessary health complications and deaths.
Meanwhile, Loloma Mission Hospital has been hit by congestion as more patients from other districts are seeking medication at the hospital.
Hospital sister-in-charge Marian Ronald has asked government to intervene by equipping other district hospitals with necessary equipment and health personnel to decongest Loloma Mission Hospital.
The hospital attends to over 500 patients from Mufumbwe, Kabompo and Zambezi districts, a situation she described as overwhelming.
Efforts to contact Kabompo and Manyinga District Medical Officer proved futile as his phone was not reachable.
all this under sata.
Come on ZESCO! hospitals must be equiped with UPSs (Uninterapted Power supply) when are we going to get proffessional pliz??
Even in developed countries Emergency Power Supply equipment are installed as a back up to the normal grid power because power failures are accidental and therefore occur unexpectedly! Now in our case where the inefficiencies of ZESCO have become a norm, it is obviously suicidal not to have these facilities.
Uninterrupted power supply is useless. It runs for 30 and is used to safely shut down equipment or as a stop gap till the back up generator kicks in.
Hospitals require back up generators (and fuel)!
Stop this culture of blaming others for your failures. Mr. Sata does not run the hospital.
The chief executive or hospital manager should know that a hospital, like an airport, needs a backup generator.
stup!d id!ot. be objective.
Very sad.I lost my new born niece due to Zesco power failure in the hospital.she was in an incubator.But the hospital always denies these things.
A shame!!! Why there is no emergency power supply?
Why they do not use alternative energy such as solar with battery buffer?
Alternatives are given – all over the world. But Zesco and Government are not able to deliver such solutions.
How many people have to die in future to solve the energy problem?
The woman has become a victim of the inability of decision makers to do their work. God rest her soul graciously.
Sue ZESCO…they must face the wrath of the law…
De hsptal is 2 blame coz dey knw abt power failures in de country.
I AGREE ! YOU CAN’T BLAME ZESCO COZ HOSPITALS SHOULD BE EQUIPPED WITH BACK UP ! HOWEVER IT IS CLEAR THAT THE WOMAN DIED OF SOMETHING ELSE WHILE THE OPERATION WAS OVER ALREADY !
All due to Sata and his PF institutionalizing incompetence and unaccountability.
I thought it was mandatory for all clinics/hospitals to have standby generators
Chaps Williams=Willie NsandA.
Ba LT how about the baby is it dead ??
If the relative speaks to the contrary,it appears its a fake allegation againest Zesco thereby our only plea is for the govt to improve the other health institution insight Of increased traffic.
Sue them!
Is that Kaseba Sata in the picture?
useless pf zesco
I thought blackouts were supposed to be a thing of the past?
Either way, this does not excuse the fact the hospital did not have backup power, esp knowing that we live in a country were power is not reliable.
Can other hospitals learn from this?
We make mistakes, learn from them and grow.
#OneZambia
The way things are going, blackouts are very much a thing of the future.
ANY NORMAL THINKING HOSPITAL ADMINISTRATOR SHOULD RUN A THEATER USING A BACK UP STANDBY GENERATOR INSTEAD OF ALWAYS BLAMING ZESCO DESPITE OF ALL THE EFFORTS THE UTILITY COMPANY IS DOING TO PROVIDE THE POWER SUPPLY SERVICES. THE QUESTION ONE MAY ASK IS HOW WERE THESE HOSPITALS RUNNING WHEN THEY WERE NOT YET POWERED BY ZESCO, DONT YAP ANY HOW , THINK OF BANKS THAT ARE NOT SAVING LIVES BUT HAVE GOT STANDBY GEN SETS.
Can the PF bosses at ZESCO walk with their heads held high? Are they comfortable picking up those high salaries and perks when it is apparent that they have failed the nation?
The loss of life under the circumstances is very sad.
There is no doubt too that many Zambians have had their home appliances damaged as a result of the sudden and regular power cuts and Zesco are getting away with it. If people start suing them may be they will wake up.
No, ZESCO needs a competitor power supplier, not the nonsense you are yapping of suing. Don’t you know that legal fees are huge? And do u ever think that suing would bring back the dead?
It is always advisable to read and understand the topic, before foolishly commenting. Neither Zesco nor GRZ is at faulty. The Doctor has said it all, think before yapping.
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Awe kwena tell them. Reading culture is so poor pa zed. People dont want to read and article entirely and contribute accordingly. Fyonse ni pf. Yes there was a power outage but the cause of death was high blood pressure which as pregnant women, we take very lightly, but whose consequences are fatal.
Continue blaming the government of the day for everything that goes wrong in your life, ine ni progress palya mulelilana unnecessarily.
The hospital authorities are to be blamed,they should hav other backup means of power lyk d generators.its a wake up call to all the hospitals in zambia be it privates or government.
I’m from manyinga and can tell that the hospital has two back up generators and they were in use that night.
If you read the entire story the woman ignored medical advice to be admitted.
If she came back in critical condition is it really due to negligence by the hospital after she was advised to stay.
From the story no -one is refuting that there was a Zesco power failure,no one mentioned back up generators. Having high blood pressure in pregnancy is serious even with a functioning threatre,but if there is a power failure the chances of surviving are drastically reduced to zero.Do you think a pregnant woman would happily want to endanger her life and her unborn childs by ignoring medical advice? I think the sister in charge just made up the story to cover her ass.Like you don’t know all the stories of what really goes on in hospitals.Its a good thing you can fly to south africa or India…but what of the poor?
….the part for ‘ignoring medical advise ‘ must not be the issue. She is not there to dispute that. We respect, trust and obey priests, pastors and Doctors very much. Its most unlikely that she could have refused to be admitted. That statement is there just to exonerate power suppliers. Doctors know what to do when a pregnant woman develops high BP in labour. The lady died as a result of either power failure or negligence on the part of the medical personnel who attended to her period.
I can give an example of someone I know who is 40 weeks pregnant, who has ignored my pleas for her to go to the hospital whenever she has told me she has been having headaches, feels dizzy and blurred vision. I asked her if she knew how dangerous that situation may be but she has repeatedly ignored my concerns. I have further asked her if she knows what pre-eclampsia is and she said no never heard of it. My next question was hasnt your midwife spoken to you about this and warned you of the dangers of being in such a situation and the urgent need to go to hospital? I further asked what has your midwife been telling you during antenatal, her response was ah! my midwife talks too much. There is a wealth of information out there please ladies indulge yourselves before you start blaming other
the money to buy a generator was taken by chikopa to malawi
This is why instead of spending money in bye-election after bye-election, money should be spent on things like Stand-by diesel Generators for hospitals.
I think bloggers should learn to read the whole story before writing anything nonsense. The hospital management says she delivered successfully to a hearlth baby girl. Which means the baby is alive, then she died later after the operation due to high blood pressure.
But it seems some of these margotes at some sites all they know and dream about is just Sata here Sata there. Who told you that nobody died from the operation or from high blood pressure before? learn to be objective and sensitive sometimes with things and informations you read.
High blood pressure in pregnancy is called pre-eclampsia, the treatment is to deliver the baby.Its possible to deliver a live baby on the operating table and yet lose the mother due to excessive blood loss,with no power the doctors would be unable to quickly stop bleeding.
Just because the sister-in-charge has a European name does not make her right…this is partly due to their negligence as well so as to save beds…read the last bit of the article they probably turned her away.
SHE WAS NOT EVEN PREGNANT THE TIME SHE DIED. BUT THE TITLE IS SO MISLEADING AND BRAINWASHING.
Ba LT. Where do you get information. Ask the pipo on ground for u to report effectively .All diesel stations in N/W shutdown from midnight to 05hours always. And everyone knows that schedule. The lady died at about 02hours and why should you blame Zesco.Ask us who are here in Kabompo.
DUE TO SATA BY ELEC
Please sue them that’s the only way they will learn. .are there any “no win no fee” lawyers in Zambia.
You chap get right imfor before you contribute. I know you stay in kabompo.
Where is Ms Chansa Kabwela to splash this news in the great Post newspaper? Chiwamila galu…..”
Sad for the loss of life. Its true our lady must ve died of other complications, becoz kabompo which feeds Manyinga district runs on thermal power. Zesco switches off power at midnite til 5 or 6 am. Loloma mission hospital is well equipped like chitonkoloki mission hospital in Zambezi. with air ambulance available. so I wud comfatably exonerate ZESCO and hospital mgt.
Let’s hear how the new comedian PR Officer at Zesco will spin this one…as for GRZ why not incorporate solar power for essential services like operating theatres in the building design of these health centres. …we are blessed with abundant sunshine just like the Icelanders are blessed with geothermal energy; let’s make use of it. It would take only two new generation panels to power essential services in a hospital of this size as backup power.
Wake up!!
To let you know, Greenfields has an 40″ Container available in Lusaka with Solar panels, inverters and Soalr batteries. The government did many tenders on Solar without bring them to life (e.g. Zesco Building, Parliament). A Hospital can be supplied with a few hundred U$ and will ahve power for 20 years. Even batteries will have lifetime of 10years. no Diesel no runnfing costs (only CAPEX no OPEX).
Zambia is suffering form power failure – Our company Greenfields Energy is suffering of not available Solar Market in Zambia. Soon we go back to Germany!
Ape government. Under the current reality of ZESCO power-outings, ought there not be a government policy in place, requiring that each and every hospital that has operating rooms be equipped with a generator that can kick-in and continue supplying electricity in events of such sudden power-outages? Is this an impossibility? Is it not painful enough that a pregnant mother died on an operating table at one of the country’s hospitals because of a ZESCO power failure?
Where is Loloma? That info should be fed to us as soon as is possibleimwe ma poor journalists
I hope ZESCO has good lawyers, because I sense a lawsuit in their future. I hope they sue ZESCO and retire for life. ZAMTEL too – it would be nice to be able to make a phonecall nowadays.
Also, the hospital needs to have it’s own generators for incubators, life support and operations. Another lawsuit waiting to happen.
Giving birth does not require electricity! !!
OK mudala lawsuit is just waste of time in Zambia and what judge would want to cripple a hospital when our health care is so deplorable. we are called third world
because we can’t afford generators.
Mother dies on operating table due to power failure
I woman who successfully delivered a baby girl, after undergoing caesarian section died in the theatre due to ZESCO power failure as doctors could not save her from losing excessive blood.
….the story and the picture dont tie up at all. That man at th head is a known anaeshtetist at UTH i know personaly. How comes he is tied up in this story when it happened elswhere…..?
Defamation of Character. These journalists need to be careful with such
Did the baby survuve? Don’t show your umbuli here , zesco power has no relationship with Ceasearian (That is cutting of the ladies hole to allow baby to be manually pulled, normally ladies who undergo this are fat ones because their holes are small but slim or thin ones have migodi) with or without Power the operation can take place, it only requires a sharp razor like instrument to first suther the SAME.
This picture is very old,taken sometimes back. Who put it here and why?
A shame!!! Why there is no emergency power supply?
Why they do not use alternative energy such as solar with battery buffer?
Alternatives are given – all over the world. But Zesco and Government are not able to deliver such solutions.
How many people have to die in future to solve the energy problem?
The woman has become a victim of the inability of decision makers to do their work. God rest her soul graciously.
@ Anyoko – What you are describing is NOT C-Section. I am not sure about the source of your information. That said, I think your language is inappropriate. My thoughts.