Gas tanker tragedy: units at Tambo Memorial Hospital reopened

Gauteng MEC for Health and Wellness Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko oversaw the reopening of units affected by the gas tanker explosion at the Tambo Memorial Hospital on January 30.

Ralehoko highlighted the health sector suffered a heavy blow with 12 Tambo Memorial employees succumbing to injuries and eight firefighters from the Ekurhuleni Emergency Services suffering serious injuries.

“Fortunately, all eight have since been discharged from the hospital. A further 33 staff from TMH incurred injuries and were treated as outpatients. The majority of them have since returned to work except for three people who are yet to come back to work.”

The MEC said the impact of the explosion affected the accident and emergency and radiology units along with other sections of the hospital. This resulted in damages to the ceiling and some windows in the antenatal care section and the operating theatre.

“As a result of the above, the hospital was placed on ambulance diversion from December 24 to January 27. Patients coming in with private vehicles and walk-ins were either admitted or stabilised and transferred to neighbouring facilities based on the assessment of doctors.

“Today, I am pleased to announce that the diversion of all patient categories and departments is uplifted, effective from 20:00 on January 27.

“This followed the testing and quality checks of the clinical machines and the subsequent lifting of the prohibition notice by the Department of Labour, thus allowing access to the affected sections.”

The hospital is now able to receive critical patients in the accident and emergency unit for the following departments: general surgery, radiology, orthopaedics, ENT (ear, nose and throat), ophthalmology (dealing with medical conditions relating to the eye), paediatric, high-risk and low-risk maternity, internal medicine, and all trauma cases that require theatre operations and intensive care unit.

“All staff members who were allocated to neighbouring facilities have also been recalled. All services have now been restored and the hospital will embark on a catch-up process to reschedule patients who would have missed their scheduled appointments for surgery and radiology services.

“We still want to advise the public of our referral pathways, which require patients to receive the right level of care at the appropriate facility.

“At the heart of this is the role of primary health care as hospitals offer a higher level of care after patients are transferred from clinics.

“I want to commend the public for the level of cooperation offered to the hospital during this period. It is never easy to tell people to go receive services somewhere else.
“I wish to also acknowledge the role played by the Department of Infrastructure Development for swiftly ensuring that the affected sections of the hospital are fixed as quickly as possible to enable us to restore full services at the Tambo Memorial Hospital.

I am particularly pleased that we got a report back that indicates that the project was delivered within cost at R3.3m.

“Support to staff and the public debriefing and counselling sessions that were commenced from the date of the incident are ongoing for both day and night staff at Tambo Memorial Hospital working with multiple stakeholders.

“A Momentum initiative through the government employees medical scheme provided staff members with a 24-hours toll-free call centre number on 0800 239 355 for individuals requiring support. The South African Medical Association has also brought in counsellors with mobile containers to do screening and one-on-one counselling sessions with identified and volunteering staff from 19 January 2023 to date.

“The hospital CEO appointed an incident investigating committee to investigate the incident, interview the injured staff members and witnesses and obtain medical records of the deceased staff members as a result of the injuries.
“The committee is in the process of filing the social security compensation claim forms for UIF and in accordance with the Compensation for Occupation Injuries and Diseases Act with the Department of Labour.

“The Gauteng Department of Social Development has been liaising with affected people and continues to offer trauma therapy to families and assist with food parcels to those that need such assistance. Social workers have been allocated to the families to offer further support,” she said.

The MEC said they are pleased that SAPS investigators have concluded their investigation and have already handed over the docked to the National Prosecution Authority for further processing.

On behalf of the Gauteng provincial government, the MEC thanked everybody who, when tragedy struck, rolled up their sleeves and offered support.

“It is you who are the heroes and heroine who emerged out of the horrendous Boksburg gas tanker explosion. I also want to acknowledge the role of Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi who led from the front and ensured that the provincial government together with the Ekurhuleni municipality work closely with the affected families.”

She also thanked:
• The community of Ekurhuleni, the pastors, chaplains, volunteers, businesses, non-governmental organisations and all who offered immense support to the hospital.
• The neighbouring hospitals that provided support to staff and patients.
• Tambo Memorial staff members.
• The political and administrative leadership and their teams across the three spheres of government including the disaster command centre which was instrumental to pull all of us together, especially in the early stages of the Boksburg explosion incident.
• The National Department of Health team led by Minister of Health Dr Joe Phaahla and the deputy minister of health Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo, who ensured that support teams and technical expertise were available.

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