Deteriorating infrastructure in Venezuelan public hospitals is enough to make doctors’ blood boil, literally.
On Monday night, firemen and Civilian Protection officers had to evacuate more than 100 patients from a high-risk maternity wing, aptly dubbed Hugo Chavez at the Ciudad Hospitalaria Dr. Henrique Tejera hospital in Valencia- Central Venezuela– after temperatures rose to 85 degrees Celsius in the area where doctors’ rest between shifts.
Amid a humanitarian crisis, Venezuelan hospitals are so deteriorated that they do not even have emergency electricity generators, according to an assessment published by the Red Cross.
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Emergency response spokesperson Jacobo Vidarte told that he did not know what caused the mysterious increase in temperature.
“It was electrical in origin, what generated that overheating in an area of the hospital,” Vidarte said. “We have to evac the whole structure and then cut the power off completely, break holes in the walls and floors, since temperatures had risen well above 85 C in the rest area,” he explained.
“There was no fire or smoke,” Vidarte added. Patients were taken to Maternidad del Sur, Hospital de Guacara and other wings in the same hospital.
