Nine critically ill patients die in Brazilian hospital after power outage caused by floods – World

Nine people who were hospitalized in serious condition at the Canoas Emergency Hospital, in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, died after the floods that hit the city invaded the health unit and caused a power cut. With these nine deaths, the number of deaths caused by the strong floods that have devastated Rio Grande do Sul since last Monday rose to 66, confirmed the local Civil Protection.

“The water came in, there was a collapse in the ICU (Intensive Treatment Unit) due to a lack of energy. We tried to maintain the patients but we couldn’t and, as a result, nine died.”-Confirmed the mayor of Canoas, the third largest city in the state, Jairo Jorge.

According to the mayor of Canoas, which has 357,000 inhabitants and is a tourist hub, the flood waters that took over the city invaded the hospital and caused a short circuit, turning off the power. Those responsible for the city’s largest health unit tried to activate the emergency generators to keep connected the devices that guaranteed the life of patients in serious condition admitted to the ICU, but the amount of water from the floods was so great that it flooded the generator area. and they didn’t work either.

Hospitals across the state of Rio Grande do Sul are facing serious problems in staying operational in the midst of the indescribable chaos caused by widespread flooding and increased demand, although so far without registering loss of lives like those that occurred in Canoas.

In Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, taken by the waters of the usually calm Guaíba River, which are already almost three meters above normal levels and have flooded entire neighborhoods, several large hospitals had to quickly and as quickly as possible transfer hundreds of people hospitalized, after the health units were flooded, and in cases where this transfer to other buildings was not possible, people hospitalized on several floors were concentrated on the highest floors.

The rains that have been falling non-stop in the state of Rio Grande do Sul since last Monday have so far reached 261 of the state’s 496 municipalities, caused a level of devastation never before recorded and left at least 42 thousand homeless, according to the Civil Protection data.

This Sunday, there were still places where the rescue teams had not been able to reach, as the floods, the collapse of bridges and the collapse of the asphalt completely or partially closed more than 170 roads, the strength of the storm does not always allow rescue helicopters to fly. and almost 70 people remained missing.