Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Paida Chipunza
29 January 2008
Harare — THERE was drama at Chitungwiza Central Hospital on Saturday night when a meningitis patient drove away in an ambulance carrying another patient.
Eyewitnesses say the patient shook off two male nurses who were looking after him, jumped into the ambulance parked at the hospital and sped off. The driver of the ambulance - which belongs to Marondera Hospital -- had left the keys in the ignition while looking for a stretcher to carry a patient he had brought to Chitungwiza Central Hospital when all hell broke loose.
"The nurses tried in vain to hold back the patient while efforts to seek assistance from security to assist them in calming the patient -- who had turned violent and was in a state of confusion - were fruitless. "In the melee that followed, the patient freed himself, dashed to the parked ambulance and drove off to his parents' home in Waterfalls," said one eyewitness. Hospital security, accompanied by police, later caught up with him in Waterfalls. Chitungwiza Central Hospital matron Mrs Miriam Mangeya said the hospital security alerted police to assist in tracking down the patient.
"Our staff who were looking after him failed to control him since he was violent. The ambulance driver had left the car running because he wanted to make use of the car's headlights while taking the patient he had brought into the hospital as we had no electricity that day," Mrs Mangeya said.
She said the security guards would have caught up with him at the hospital gate but he smashed through the gate, damaging it and one of the ambulance's headlights. The patient has since been readmitted to the hospital where he is reported to be in a stable condition.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Herald. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
