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Yoliswa Dube
A LOCAL ambulance crew recently had a torrid time accessing the intensive care unit some floors up a city hospital because the elevator was out of order. After answering a distress call to a car accident scene, ambulance technician Lungile Dube and his colleague attended to a patient who had been severely injured and was in a critical condition.
Upon arrival at the accident scene, the first responders did all they could to stabilise the patient before he was taken to a hospital.
The patient was successfully stabilised at the scene of the accident before being whisked away to a city hospital. But upon arrival, the patient had to wait a little longer to get further treatment because the hospital elevator was out of order.
With each precious minute passing, determining whether or not the critical patient would survive, the ambulance crew had no option but to use the staircase, to manoeuvre the patient. This would waste so much more time.
“Being the first responder, it’s extremely important what happens from the moment you come into contact with the patient, what happens on the way to the hospital and what happens upon arrival at the hospital. Everything must be done swiftly in order for a life to be saved,” said Dube.
He said it was disappointing how some hospitals had failed to ensure that their elevators are working to ensure patients are moved around more conveniently.
“We were lucky our patient survived despite the amount of time that was wasted as we went up the stairs. Time is of the essence when you’re taking care of a trauma patient,” said the ambulance technician.
Recently, two people, a technician from Schindler Lifts and an NRZ employee he was trying to rescue from a faulty elevator, died after they plunged down the elevator shaft, from the eighth floor of the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) headquarters in Bulawayo.
It is said the mishap occurred after Elizabeth Mlangeni, the NRZ employee, got trapped inside the elevator on the eighth floor as she was going to the ground floor after dismissing from work.
The technician, Kevin Musina, who was sent to attend to the fault is suspected to have tried to rescue Mlangeni through the trap door of the elevator car but was overpowered by the latter who was of a heavier built, resulting in the two plunging down the shaft to the basement.
The NRZ headquarters is the tallest building in the central business district of Bulawayo at 100 metres with 23 floors and over 500 employees working from the building.
It was reported that technicians were working on the elevator for decommissioning.
The mishap came a few months after an elevator technician died and three others were injured when an elevator at Chaminuka Building in Harare broke loose and plunged from the ninth to the fourth floor.
A survey conducted by The Chronicle around the city revealed that most elevators were out of order while some were faulty resulting in members of the public preferring the stairs as a safer option.
“I work in this building but I can’t remember the last time I ever used the lift. Sometimes it works while other times it stops working in between floors as it is faulty. The maintenance guys eventually decided to shut them down to avoid situations where people are stuck in the lift,” said Moses Chiringa, a Bulawayo resident.
He said there was growing fear among members of the public who now preferred using the staircase to avoid being trapped in elevators.
“Now with load shedding in the central business district, people are even afraid to be trapped in lifts in the event that electricity goes. We’d rather use the stairs because lifts can’t really be trusted,” said Chiringa.
“The NRZ incident should be a turning point for whoever is responsible for ensuring elevators are well serviced and those that use them are safe. These deaths were painful and very unnecessary. It’s really sad when someone dies in circumstances that could’ve been avoided.”
According to statistics, about 57 percent of elevators in buildings around the country that have been inspected by the National Social Security Authority (NSSA) are not working.
NSSA, which is mandated with assessing the safety of elevators said only 193 out of 453 elevators inspected this year were found to be working while the rest were grounded for various reasons.
Inspections of elevators are carried out once every year while owners of buildings are required to service elevators once every week for selected components and once every month for the entire plant.
NSSA corporate communications manager Philemon Chereni said all the 193 elevators that were found to be functioning were safe for use and urged members of the public not to fret.
“453 elevators were inspected and 193 were found to be working. The rest are not in use due to the owners’ failure to replace them with new ones. All the buildings with running lifts are safe for use. The ones with non-running ones have stopped due to a normal breakdown or owners’ desire,” said Chereni.
He said owners of buildings must comply with the relevant elevator standards and legislation to avoid mishaps.
“Elevators remain safe,” he said. “All equipment made by man is not 100 percent failure proof. The elevators are serviced and inspected. And if proper procedures as stipulated in laws and standards are followed, elevators are safe to use.”
Chereni urged members of the public to remain calm when trapped in elevators and remain patient until they get help from skilled and competent technicians.
“The law is clear on what needs to be done regarding maintenance and use of elevators. Members of the public shouldn’t panic when they’re trapped in an elevator. They should press the alarm button or call the service providers and remain calm until they’re rescued by a competent technician,” he said.
“The owner and competent persons should comply with the safety legislations when they’re using, working on elevators or rescuing people trapped in elevators.”
Aside from the need for hospitals to have functional elevators to move around patients conveniently and members of the public worrying about being trapped in them, lifts serve a practical function to everyday life.
With modernisation and the advent of high rise buildings, elevators cannot be avoided. They should instead be maintained to ensure they serve their intended purpose without putting the lives of their users in danger.
Sidumisile Mabena