These things happen

Speaking at a press conference at the SWRHA Human Resource Department on Lewis Street, San Fernando to give an update on baby Faith’s condition, Ramroop said: “I would like to let everyone know that this is an incident that will occur, has occurred and does occur in every single acute care hospital in the world.”

Ramroop and South-West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA) Executive Medical Director Dr Albert Persad both spoke at the press conference after Health Minister Jerry Narace called for a full-scale investigation to be carried out.

For his part, Dr Persad expressed sorrow over the fact that baby Faith suffered cellular damage to her right hand as a result of intravenous treatment at the General Children’s Ward of the San Fernando General Hospital (SFGH).

Narace called on Persad and SWRHA Chief Executive Officer Michael Harris to account for the incident.

Ramroop said the skin damage, called extravasation, may have happened when baby Faith suffered a seizure which caused intravenous fluid to leak out of her veins.

Ramroop said that baby Faith came into the hospital on July 9 with a very serious medical problem, which required an intravenous line to treat.

Ramroop said as Medical Director he was quite comfortable with how the matter was managed.

“When the line extravasated it was recognised by the junior doctors, the senior doctors dressed the extravasation, or cellular damage, and referred it to a specialist plastic surgeon,” said Ramroop.

He said that the specialist told Faith’s parents, Earl Davis, 39, and his wife Maureen, 37, that the wound was only on the topmost layer of skin (superficial) on the right hand.

“The wound will heal. Nothing is wrong with the child’s bones, nothing is wrong with the limb, it is a superficial burn that most of us would get when we scald our hand, in this case it was due to a fluid that leaked into the tissue and damaged the skin,” said Ramroop.

When contacted yesterday, Faith’s father said he felt that a cover up was taking place and he would be seeking legal advice on the matter.

“The specialist told us that there is a possibility Faith may lose full use of her right hand because of tissue damage,” Davis said.