A 47-year-old patient with a coronavirus treated at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv died Friday night after the breathing tube for his ventilator was detached, and medical teams did not notice it for several minutes.
The hospital attributed the death of Moshe Harazi to the huge workload for staff, as Israel is experiencing the worst wave of COVID-19 to date, with record numbers of cases and seriously ill patients.
“This is an excellent department that treats coronavirus patients in a critical condition,” the hospital said in a statement. An initial investigation showed that … the breathing tube loosened, but due to the very simultaneous emergency warnings at the intensive care unit, the team was working on emergency warnings at other patients, [noticed] it only after a few minutes. ‘
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Harazi then deteriorated and doctors could not save him.
“We are experiencing a heavy burden that is challenging the staff. The hospital management has investigated the abnormal incident and will come to the appropriate conclusions. ”
The hospital said it had already decided to further strengthen teams at coronavirus departments by scaling down other, less urgent operations.
It expresses its condolences to Harazi’s family.
“We demand answers,” his widow Tali told the Ynet news website. She said the family heard about the staff’s mistake in the media and only then from hospital officials. According to her, a hospital official told her ‘it is being investigated and after the shiva [week-long mourning period] they will update us. ”
According to the latest figures from the Ministry of Health on Saturday, Israel currently has 82,551 active cases of coronavirus, of which 1,082 people are in a serious condition. The country’s COVID-19 death toll stands at 3,943.