'We had no oxygen,' doctor insists supply was late for nurse who died

A senior medical doctor at the Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) has been left infuriated after the Western Regional Health Authority head rejected reports that a COVID-positive Sav-la-Mar nurse died because of the lack of oxygen.

According to the doctor, the pronouncement by authority chairman St Andrade Sinclair is simply not true.

READ: WRHA refutes claims that oxygen shortage led to death of nurse

"We had no oxygen," the doctor told The Gleaner on Tuesday evening asking that his name be withheld. "She became ill last week, admitted to the Savanna-la-Mar Hospital, and while there, her oxygen saturation was low.”

He said the COVID-stricken nurse, Diagrea (pronounced Diedre) Cunningham, was eventually transferred to the Cornwall Regional hospital and medical staff were bagging her, meaning manually supplying oxygen to the lungs.

The doctor said Cunningham, 37, only received medical-grade oxygen after another COVID patient died and she was able to get the remaining gas.

Frustrated, he said it is hard to keep the medical team motivated amid the current realities, conceding that he too has considered walking off the job.

“We did not sign up for COVID. It is by the grace of God that I am here,” he lamented.

The senior medic also said the Prime Minister owes health care workers an apology.

“He opened up the country knowing we don't have hospitals that are equipped,” the doctor said.

According to him, there are still issues getting adequate N95 masks and personal protective equipment.

“We have not improved on this. We put our lives on the line and our families' lives on the line, the least they can do is protect us and provide a proper facility for us to do our jobs,” said the doctor.

Health administrators spent the weekend in a rush to transport oxygen from one facility to another as supplies ran out or went very low at some institutions.

Things began to improve on Monday after a shipment arrived from overseas.

IGL, Jamaica's lone producer of oxygen says it has been operating at maximum capacity, but demand has been outstripping supply.

Jamaica has been seeing a rapid increase in COVID-19 cases with the month of August alone accounting for more than 10,000 cases.

There are now 767 COVID-positive patients in hospitals with 148 requiring oxygenation.

Many others suspected to be positive are also on oxygen.

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