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Nqobile Tshili Chronicle Reporter
UNITED Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) in Bulawayo has been forced to shut down its casualty ward that attends to mainly the injured and other emergencies after a poisonous chemical spilled on its floors.UBH acting chief executive officer Dr Narcisius Dzvanga said organophosphate was spilled by a nurse who was attending to a patient who had attempted to commit suicide by drinking the chemical.

“The patient drank the chemical in an attempt to commit suicide while at home  and the person who rushed her to hospital also brought with him the bottle with the chemical.

“One of our nurses unfortunately accidentally dropped the bottle spilling the contents on the floor,” he said.

Dr Dzvanga said organophosphate  was a dangerous pesticide used for treating cattle.

Organophosphates are pesticides but can also be used as “nerve gas” by terrorists or rogue regimes but its use is prohibited under the Geneva Convention.

There are allegations that the chemical was used during the Iraq war leading to what is now referred to as the “Gulf War syndrome”.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), about one million people a year are admitted to hospital with accidental poisoning and two million with suicidal intent.

Dr Dzvanga said after the chemical’s spillage, the hospital was forced to move   all its casualty patients to Mpilo Central Hospital for treatment.

If inhaled the pesticide leads to sickness hence the hospital’s decision to evacuate patients from the affected ward.

“Nurses who were in the casualty ward started feeling sick after using the room,”  added Dr Dzvanga.

He said the hospital staff were still reluctant to use the affected ward though the poison’s concentration levels were now low.

Dr Dzvanga said the hospital authorities have since engaged Environmental Management Agency experts to assist.