MAF field hospital postpones operations to Tuesday

JOHOR BARU: The operations of the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) Field Hospital, scheduled to begin today has been postponed to tomorrow due to the transfer of essential items from the Sultanah Aminah Hospital (HSA) operation theatre unit.
Checks by Bernama at the location of the compound of HSA's main building area found cleaning work in progress, besides HSA staff spotted bringing in medical equipment, beds, chairs and other necessities.
Johor Health and Environment Committee chairman Datuk Ayub Rahmat said the hospital would be in use as soon as cleaning work and preparations of equipment were completed.
"The field hospital, Insya Allah, will operate tomorrow ... today, we will conduct a trial upon completion of the electrical supply wiring work and safety assessment carried out by the Fire and Rescue Department.
"The department is conducting safety inspections on the overall structure of the field hospital, with the help of MAF engineers and Medivest Sdn Bhd. Doctors and staff of HSA will also be assigned to assist the field hospital, by turns," he said in a statement here today.
According to Ayub, the state health and environment committee had applied to MAF to provide more time for use of the hospital.
"Currently, the hospital can be used for two weeks, and we hope MAF will be able to consider the application for more time as the hospital will also be used for natural disaster relief missions such as floods," he said.
The field hospital will open at 8am tomorrow, and operate for 24 hours in the compound of HSA's main building area.
It is able to provide treatment to approximately 60 to 70 patients and perform five to six surgeries daily by providing operation theatre facilities and a support unit for emergencies in need of immediate treatment and surgical resuscitation (first-aid).
In the 9am incident last Tuesday, six out of seven patients warded at the intensive care unit were killed in a fire which broke out on the second floor of HSA.
Another patient and three HSA staff who survived but suffered from smoke inhalation, were warded at the Sultan Ismail Hospital.
The fire has resulted in the temporary closure in stages of the main HSA building to assess the safety of the wiring, building structure and related issues which are expected to take two to four weeks. — Bernama