Male’, Maldives – Family of Mariyam Mishka Mohamed, the youngest COVID-19 fatality in Maldives, deny some of the statements made in the review report compiled by the Health Ministry following her passing.
The case review was done after the 10-year-old’s family claimed that authorities were negligent in attending to her case.
Findings from the report published on June 4 clearly indicate multiple instances of negligence. Since the publication, members of her family have come out and stated that there were “so many misinformation in this report.”
According to the report the ambulance arrived at 2238hrs and the patient was transported to IGMH ER by 2342 hrs.
However, the family brand this false. A member of the family shared screenshots from that night which show the call history between them and Heath Protection Agency’s (HPA) helpline 1676.
As per the call logs, there was an ongoing call of six minutes and 39 seconds at 2342 hrs. The family member said that the call was to inquire about the ambulance, and questioned how Mishka was brought to IGMH by 2342.
Furthermore, the report stated that CPR was immediately started after the ambulance arrived. But the family deny this as well and said that although she did not have a pulse, CPR was not done in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.
Findings from the report show that appropriate urgency was not given to the situation and that it was not treated as an emergency despite multiple complaints of respiratory distress. While parents were assured an ambulance was on the way, records reveal that it was never activated.
Due to delays, the family sent someone on their behalf to Dharubaaruge, the headquarters of HEOC, who informed them of the situation. The HEOC’s Facility Management Cluster then requested EMS to activate an ambulance and informed the family that one was on the way.
From the first call that night at 2106hrs, it took two hours and 26 minutes for the ambulance to reach, by then she was unresponsive. After multiple failed attempts at resuscitation, she was declared dead at 0010hrs on June 1.
The healthcare system, HEOC, Health Ministry and all the relevant authorities faced harsh criticism after the family revealed the delays they faced in getting help.
Notably, though the family claimed when reached out for assistance, IGMH stated that they were unable to transport a COVID positive patient without instruction from HPA, this detail was not addressed in the report.
Speaking to the press soon after Mishka’s tragic death, Minister of Heath Ahmed Naseem assured that action will be taken following the publicizing of the reports findings. However, no action has been taken as of now.
