A bizarre incident occurred at the main entrance to the accidents and emergency unit of the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) when a man showing symptons of Ebola arrived there on Saturday August 9, 2014 for medical care.
The 45-year old former staff of the Volta River Authority (VRA) was bleeding profusely through the nose and complained of incessant stomach pains.
Health personnel on duty including private security personnel at the unit got scared and took cover.
At the time Citi News got to the scene, the man in pain was found lying on a wall outside the unit with his traumatized wife carrying a nine-month old baby girl loitering for rapid response.
It was obvious that management of the hospital failed to put in place contingency measures to handle the deadly Ebola disease in case of any eventuality.
It is mind boggling that as a major referral health facility serving the three regions of the north, the hospital lacked isolated ward(s) to accommodate Ebola patients.
It was revealed that the Tamale Teaching Hospital could only boast of eight disposable long gowns, equal number of protective shades, nose covers and wellington boots out of which four were used for that night.
Three senior doctors of the hospital who rushed to the scene remained tight-lipped on the man’s condition.
Narrating the man’s predicament to Citi News, wife of the suspected Ebola patient (name withheld), said her husband was referred to the Tamale Teaching Hospital by doctors at the Tamale Central Hospital who got scared by his condition.
Alarmed by the man’s condition, personnel on duty at the Accidents and Emergency ward of the Tamale Teaching Hospital also advised him to go back to the Tamale Central Hospital.
The suffering patient who spent several hours outside the Accidents and Emergency unit of the Tamale Teaching Hospital premises was left at the mercy of the cold weather interspersed with mosquito bites.
Later, three nurses gathered courage and took his blood sample at about 10; 45 pm.
Where to accommodate the suspected Ebola patient became a major problem.
The suspected Ebola patient was finally dumped in an abandoned ward which reliable sources said was meant for accommodating HIV/AIDS patients.
Some concerned staff of the hospital disclosed that the said abandoned ward was not fumigated after it was closed down.
Sadly, he was left there without any nurse assigned to him to monitor his situation throughout the night.
Irritated Madam Gladys said her husband was treated like an outcast even though the cause of his sickness had not been established.
She could not control her anger but condemned the stigmatization meted out to her husband who was struggling for survival.
A high profile officer of the Northern Regional Directorate of the Ghana Health Service on grounds of anonymity said he was taken the blood sample the next day to the Noguchi Memorial Institute of Medical Research of the University of Ghana, Accra.
The result of the blood test at the time of filing this report on Monday August 11, 2014 was unknown.
One might wonder what the man’s family reaction will be if he eventually dies out of negligence other than the deadly Ebola disease.
