Resuscitation gear ‘adequate’

Press, 10 June 1982, Page 2

Resuscitation gear ‘adequate’

PA Auckland Resuscitation equipment at Oakley. Hospital is adequate, according to the chairman of the Auckland Hospital Board. Dr Frank Rutter. The board began an inquiry into procedures at the hospital after the Auckland Coroner. Mr A. D. Copeland, found that Michael Percy Watene. aged 25, ah Oakley patient, died because of inadqua'te observation after elec-tro-convulsive therapy (E.C.T.). Dr Rutter said yesterday that preliminary results of a board inquiry showed that resuscitation equipment "was adequate, was available, and was used." The equipment included an

endotracheal tube and intravenous injection's and was not "primitive,” a description given at the inquest. Staff w’ere adequately trained in cardio-pulmonary resuscitation and in the use of the equipment, he said. A report on the inquiry ■ will be given to the board’s investigations committee at a meeting to be held, in private, on June 17. Dr Rutter said that criticism of Oakley nursing staff by pressure groups was unwarranted. People who had not worked there and who did not understand the conditions under which the staff worked did not have the right to make such criticisms, he said.