A woman who required oxygen therapy – to alleviate respiratory failure that connects to the electricity grid – died Monday at a Basauri residence, in Bizkaia, during the hours of the supply blackout, As reported by ‘El Correo’. It would be the only case of this type known in Euskadi, one of the communities where the start of the service was faster. An investigation has been opened to clarify what happened.
From the Provincial Council, which manages the residences, indicate that “on the day of the general blackout, the Department of Social Action contacted a large part of the residential centers for dependent elderly”, as well as with “representatives of the employers of the sector of dependent elderly (GESCA, LARES, ELBE)”, “to offer support in case of emergency situations”. Actions were also coordinated with “Third Sector entities that offer residential accommodation in the field of disability.”
Always according to the Diputación, “no center reported incidents of gravity attributable to the blackout beyond the logical inconveniences where it took longer to recover the supply.” “In any case, once normality has been recovered, all written reports of the incidents occurred during the blackout and the activated protocols will be requested to minimize the impact on the usual activity of the centers,” they add from the regional entity.
The information of ‘El Correo’ points to the fact that in Basauri’s residence there were two oxygen machines and a laptop. That last were using it alternately between the two people who needed oxygen therapy. When 112 managed to respond to the request for help, the intern has already died.
From Osakidetza, they consider waiting for the Diputación report since they do not have detailed information at the moment. The sources consulted do emphasize that in the hospitals “there was no problem” with oxygen therapy due to the entry into operation of diesel generators that sustained the essential procedures. The last resort manual systems were not even necessary. In addition, they find that “in a few cases” transfers to hospitals were agreed by popular ones in homes with oxygen therapy. In Bizkaia, for example, two people were referred to Santa Marina de Bilbao.
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