Flood: What we lost, how Nigerians can help us – Maiduguri Teaching Hospital

Borno State is suffering from one of its worst floods in three decades, with vast areas of farmland, infrastructure, and hundreds of homes partly or wholly destroyed.

At least 30 people have died from the disaster, according to government figures. However, residents said that number is higher as some deaths were not documented.

The devastating flood has also displaced more than 400,000 people. Residents seek shelter in public schools and uncompleted buildings under dire human conditions.

The flooding in Maiduguri was triggered by the collapse of the Alau Dam, the city’s main water source. Houses were swept away to the very last brick in the Gwange and Gamboru areas of the state. The water has receded, but federal and state authorities are still scrambling to rescue people, and sometimes bodies, trapped in buildings.

One of the worst-hit infrastructures is the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH). The facility sustained significant water damage and was forced to suspend its operations for two weeks.

Although the hospital’s management said it would resume some services on Monday (yesterday), the status of some hospital equipment has yet to be ascertained.

In this interview with PREMIUM TIMES reporters, the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Ahmad Ahidjo, said the facility needs urgent support to resume operating at optimal capacity. He also gives insight into their rescue efforts when the flooding occurred.

Excerpts:

PT: We sympathise with you and the university community about the flood disaster that happened some days ago. Authorities said the response has been very impressive. Your colleagues – the committee of CMDs – also commended your leadership and your efforts.

Can you describe the impact of the flood on your hospital?

Ahidjo: Well, it is disastrous. The whole of the hospital was flooded. So, virtually everything that we had on the ground floor was affected, and (the) patients, we had to move them upstairs. The staff also find it difficult to come to work because of the crossing within the town at that time. It was difficult to move around during that period.

All the drugs we have vanished. The consumables and the basic examination tools were all affected. All our equipment was affected too.

The loss is enormous but we are trying much. As you can see the inside of the hospital, we have cleaned, and we are fumigating and assessing the level of damage (the extent of damage to the equipment). Once we do that, we will restore electricity, and once it is restored, we can commence activities.

PT: Did you record casualties when the event happened and after?

Ahidjo: No, not in the hospital.

PT: How did the hospital management respond to the disaster?

Ahidjo: (We) all of us collectively, all the staff, we moved the patients upstairs, especially the orthopaedic, the labour rooms, and the malnourished kids at the Al-Iman centre, we were able to rescue them all.

They were moved upstairs while patients who were in stable condition were discharged. We suspended admission; rather, they can come back when the hospital is more stable.

PT: Is there any time in view you think the hospital will resume operation again?

Ahidjo: The range of services is very large. As you know, the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital is the largest hospital in Nigeria, so the range of services is large.

However, we will commence from Monday by performing basic skeletal services of opening the Accident and Emergency unit.

We have fumigated the units, the trauma centre, and the emergency areas. We will open it by Monday. The clinics will start running by Monday, too. But some of the laboratories, some of the diagnostics in radiology, the cancer centre and the molecular laboratory, polio laboratory, all of this will be difficult to say when we will start again. It all depends on how fast we are able to rectify the challenges that will be identified.

PT: Looking at the level of damage in the facility, what form of aid do you think the hospital needs right now so you can commence operation quickly?

Ahidjo: We are calling on the government and well-meaning Nigerians to assist the facility in terms of equipment. I think the equipment casualties may be the largest.

We have many high-tech equipment like 120 Slice CT, Linear Accelerator for cancer centre – two of them – the expensive state-of-the-art equipment such as two Elekta Linear Accelerators, two Brachytherapy machines and a Canon Large Bore CT Simulator.

We also have Brachytherapy, we have another CT simulator, Molecular lab PCR machines. A lot of equipment from polio lab, down to Molecular lab to diagnostic laboratory, even laundry equipment, tailoring equipment, there are so many that one will be surprised the kind of services that we have in the hospital.

Electricity, the big generator sets, the water treatment plants and all those things. It is a very large and wide range. So, I believe any form of assistance (is needed); people should bring in the items that we need: the EMR, all the computers that we do electronic record system (on), the servers and all those things, they are all affected to some extent.

So if there is anybody that is willing to help, we prefer to have these items back. The person can come and give a donation of computers to be used for rectifying them, that’s the best form of assistance that we can get. Any form of equipment.

PT: Thank you so much for your time, Sir.