Wednesday, April 23, 2025

Doctors say 5 patients died during power failure at Tijuana hospital

Five intubated coronavirus patients died over the weekend at Tijuana’s General Hospital, and authorities are investigating whether a power failure was to blame.

The loss of power occurred for a few hours on Saturday, and then again on Sunday for most of the day, and is attributed to the theft of wiring from an electrical substation. Four patients hooked up to ventilators died on Saturday, and a fifth passed away on Sunday. 

By protocol, when a power outage occurs, patients whose treatment requires electrical power are moved to areas of the hospital serviced by the hospital’s generator, but hospital staff claim the generator wasn’t in proper working order. The hospital’s quality and safety committee is investigating the incident.  

State Health Minister Alonso Pérez Rico disputed the claim that the power outage led to the patients’ deaths. “… the ventilators have an internal battery that lasts from four to six hours and that’s more than enough time to move the patient,” he said.

Another version of the weekend’s events has doctors stating that the generator did not supply power to the elevators and thus they could not move intubated patients to floors that had electrical power. 

The patients who died were unable to be moved to the hospital’s morgue until power was restored on Monday. 

The hospital’s director, Alberto Reyes Escamilla, said in a statement that at no time was the safety of patients compromised and denied that patients had died due to the electrical failure.

Source: Milenio (sp), El Universal (sp)

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.
China trade via Hong Kong

Hong Kong edges past Mexico in global trade ranking, riding wave of Chinese re-exports

0
Mexico slipped one spot in the global ranking of the 10 largest exporters, but remained Latin America's top exporter in 2024, according to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
IMF forecasts Mexico's economy will shrink in 2025

Mexico only major economy projected to shrink in 2025, IMF report shows

1
Sheinbaum noted on Tuesday that the Finance Ministry's forecast — that Mexico's economy will grow by 1.5-2.3% this year — doesn't coincide with the IMF's revised outlook.
Satellite image of massive dust storm over Chihuahua

Satellite captures colossal dust wall as it moves over northern Mexico

1
The impressive dust storm, which occurred earlier this week, was triggered by seasonal high winds in the Chihuahua Desert.