WATCH ABOVE: Four patients who received dialysis treatments at the Royal Alexandra Hospital are now being closely monitored by health officials after it was discovered that disinfectant accidentally made it into the water supply that’s used in the machines. Shallima Maharaj reports.
EDMONTON – Four dialysis patients are being closely monitored at the Royal Alexandra Hospital after a chemical was released into the water supply that’s used in the machines during treatment.
The incident happened at the hospital around 11 a.m. Friday when a valve was “accidentally turned during regular system cleaning,” according to Alberta Health Services.
“Inadvertently, some disinfectant got into that water supply,” said Curtis Johnston, facility medical director at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. “We need very pure water to use for dialysis treatments so there’s a system in place to purify the water. Periodically those systems need to be cleaned with this disinfectant.”
AHS would not say exactly what the chemical was, but Johnston said patients who may be exposed to the chemical could develop breathing problems.
“It’s expected that any adverse consequences from this exposure would happen in the first few hours. We don’t think there will be any long-term affects from this,” he said.
Once the chemical release was discovered, AHS said the water supply was immediately shut off and the patients were taken in for assessment.
“We recognize that an error occurred and our apologies have gone out to the patients and their families,” said Johnston. “Our first priority is always to look after the patients and to make sure that they’re safe and that they’re getting the type of care that they need to.”
Rose Laboucan’s close friend and colleague was one of the four affected patients. She said her friend, who is currently going through dialysis and chemo therapy, was on her way home to Sucker Creek—a four-hour drive—when she received a phone call to come back to the hospital.
“It’s very worrisome,” Laboucan said from outside the hospital Friday night. “We don’t know what the outcomes are going to be. We hope it doesn’t impact anything that’s going on with her treatment right now.
“She’s feeling some anger and she also has to keep faith and say, ‘We’ll get over this one too.’ She’s been through so much.”
Laboucan said she understands errors occur, but she hopes the hospital takes responsibility for the error to ensure it never happens again.
“There is no need for such an incident to happen at a hospital, in my opinion,” she said. “When it comes to lives of people that are being already in stressful situations, undergoing dialysis for kidney failure and then they have to go through that stress again…it’s just adding to the pressure. It’s ridiculous.”
Johnston said a full internal review will be conducted. AHS said the water supply would be cleaned and portable dialysis units would be used until the cleaning was complete.
Comments