Pregnant nurses banned from tending ambulances at $2.4bn RAH
PREGNANT nurses have been banned from treating patients as they arrive by ambulance due to design flaws in the $2.4 billion Royal Adelaide Hospital.
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PREGNANT nurses were banned from treating patients as they arrived by ambulance due to design flaws in the $2.4 billion Royal Adelaide Hospital.
Diesel fumes from ambulances ramped in the emergency department carpark were considered such a hazard, an edict went out prohibiting pregnant nurses from being in the area.
When industrial-strength fans were brought in to clear the fumes, privacy was compromised as patients had to shout their conditions over the noise.
Vital intercom messages could not be heard over the noise of ramped ambulances waiting to offload patients, according to internal SA Health documents.
A cloud of diesel fumes suctioned towards the ED doors put all workers at risk from “eddies” the documents state.
The farcical situation as clinicians and paramedics juggled overwhelming workloads is revealed in internal SA Health documents justifying the $1600 privacy screens in the carpark.
Ambulances initially had their rear doors facing the building in an undercroft carpark but the build up of fumes under the building’s awning resulted in an order to have rear doors instead face towards the open air of North Tce.
However, this put patients in full view of people in the public carpark and on North Tce, resulting in the installation of the privacy screens.
The parking change was successful and pregnant nurses are now allowed to deal with ambulance arrivals.
A meeting dated February 2, 2018 — before the state election — noted nine ambulances were in the carpark on a 35C day and there was “difficulty hearing due to high levels of background noise from fans and car engines creating a potential risk of miscommunication during handover and potential breaches of privacy due to having to shout during handover.”
The noise was so loud that important intercom messages could not be heard.
It also risked breaching safety legislation because patients were being exposed to a decibel level not permitted for longer than one hour. However, ramped ambulances were waiting much longer.
Patient safety from the flawed design was further compromised by “eddies” of diesel fumes, which settled outside the ED doors, floating in each time the doors opened.
Noise levels reached 93.9 decibels and averaged 86.3 decibels, one report states.
“The length of time a person can be exposed without hearing protectors to 94 decibels is one hour,” an internal health and safety report warns.
Health and Wellbeing Minister Stephen Wade this week had to apologise after the Sunday Mail revealed he mislead Parliament over when he learned SA Health was going to install the privacy screens, a blunder his office puts down to an “oversight”.
Mr Wade said the SA Health documents showed issues with the hospital’s emergency department began before the Liberals took office. He said screens were not hiding ambulance ramping but protecting privacy.
Meanwhile, Opposition health spokesman Chris Picton demanded Mr Wade resign for misleading Parliament over when he learned the screens would be installed. “In twice misleading Parliament, Stephen Wade has breached standards and shown his word cannot be trusted,” he said.