Coolers at hospital morgue fail for days
Hospital’s medical officer in-charge Zainab Chaula.
What you need to know:
The situation has infuriated people seeking service at the mortuary, who have called on authorities to urgently fix the problem.
Dodoma. People who have taken the remains of their loved ones for preservation at Dodoma Regional Hospital’s mortuary fear the bodies could decompose after the referegation system failed for four consecutive days.
The situation has infuriated people seeking service at the mortuary, who have called on authorities to urgently fix the problem.
A spot check by The Citizen at the mortuary yesterday morning took note of several bodies on the floor because they couldn’t be preserved in the malfunctioning fridges.
Hospital’s medical officer in-charge Zainab Chaula acknowledged the problem. She promised that the problem would be fixed “in a few days.”
“We have brought technicians from Temesa (Tanzania Electrical, Mechanical and Electronics Services Agency) twice, but every time they repair the refrigerators, they don’t last long. So, there are other efforts we are making now,” she said.
She urged people collect the bodies of their loved ones within two days as the facility can’t keep them longer than that.
A mortuary attendant (name withheld) told The Citizen that the refrigerators have’t been functioning for the past four days, and the situation is most disturbing.
“As for now I am only using preservatives to treat the bodies but this method is not always advised because the what we have is is not the right formula required for proper embalming,” said a mortuary attendant.
“It is such a big shame that mortuary refrigerators at a major referral hospital such as ours are not functioning…it tells of how much people are not taking health issues with seriousness they diserve. Is there no regular checks for the facilities?” a visibly disappointed Dodoma resident said outside the mortuary as he waited to collect the body of a relative.
