A health hazard is developing at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital or more specifically at the Accident and Emergency Department.
The Accident and Emergency Department is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the acute care of patients who present without a prior appointment; either by their own means or by that of an ambulance.
A number of persons who were recently admitted to the department told News784 that the presence of what appears to be a buildup of mold in some rooms of the A&E, it is quite disturbing and frightening.
One woman who spent at least 6 hours in the A&E told News784 that; “it was a struggle to breathe after about 4 hours lying on the bed, and I am not a sufferer of asthma.
A retired man who worked in the UK told News784, “the visibility is ridiculous, to say the least, and at the island’s premier health facility”.
News784 sought the views of health care workers at the institution who told us that the presence of the suspected mold buildup has been present for a while now, and patients have complained about breathing freely.
The Hospital Administrator and the Minister of Health were not available for comment at the time of this publication.
If indeed mold is present at the institution, this is what the Center for Disease Control had to say about such a health hazard;
Exposure to damp and moldy environments may cause a variety of health effects or none at all.
Some people are sensitive to molds. For these people, molds can cause nasal stuffiness, throat irritation, coughing or wheezing, eye irritation, or, in some cases, skin irritation.
People with mold allergies may have more severe reactions. Immune-compromised people and people with chronic lung illnesses, such as obstructive lung disease, may get serious infections in their lungs when they are exposed to mold.
In 2004 the Institute of Medicine (IOM) found there was sufficient evidence to link indoor exposure to mold with upper respiratory tract symptoms, cough, and wheeze in otherwise healthy people; with asthma symptoms in people with asthma; and with hypersensitivity pneumonitis in individuals susceptible to that immune-mediated condition.
Whether or not mold is present, the very presence of such conditions at our main health facility warrants urgent attention.
