7.12.2005
Fire in San Jose
My old roommate in Costa Rica lives a block away from the Calderon Guardia hospital in Barrio Aranjuez, where there was a devastating fire this morning. There were at least 17 casualties in the fire which began on the fifth floor. Costa Rica is such a small country that this incident will have national repercussions.
I for one am perpetually indebted to the Costa Rican health care system, which treated me quite well when I had an emergency surgical procedure my last night in the country back in July of 2004. I pray for the victims in this tragedy.
I for one am perpetually indebted to the Costa Rican health care system, which treated me quite well when I had an emergency surgical procedure my last night in the country back in July of 2004. I pray for the victims in this tragedy.
# posted by Juanson : 4:53 PM
Comments:
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As Christian´s old roomate in San Jose, Keith Huffman, I can attest that it was a pretty terrible incident.
I was awoken by the sirens and shouts early in the morning and saw the very ending of the catastrophe.
What´s catastrophic in addition to the 19 patient deaths and 1 nurse is some of the reactions as well as information revealed in the post-fire.
When visiting the site in the morning, President Abel Pacheco was asked about why weren`t any measures taken after there was a controlled fire earlier in January. Supposedly, during this smaller fire, none of the alarms worked, the keys to the emergency fire extinguishers could not be found and when they were broken into, didn´t work. President Pacheco´s response as he turned his back and walked away was, ¨you guys always look for the hair in the soup¨
Finally, and more importantly, Hospital Calderon Guardia had been receiving written warnings from the fire department that their fire safety facilities were not up to date and needed to be changed starting about 10 years ago. Their response is that they didn´t have enough money.
This failure, and consequent tragedy, expose the soft underbelly of Costa Rica´s economy. Simply put, things here do not get done. While written reports, studies, surveys do exist here, they often end up archived, barely read, with little or no discussion and no exposure to the public. In addition, the legislative process in order to get something done is laggard at best.
The best illustration of this is the response to this tragedy President Pacheco is seriously weighing. In order to get the procedures to the front and get them done in order to carry out the needed steps to preserve the safety of its citizens, President Pacheco is willing to declare a state of emergency. An action that tragically, is probably necessary.
I was awoken by the sirens and shouts early in the morning and saw the very ending of the catastrophe.
What´s catastrophic in addition to the 19 patient deaths and 1 nurse is some of the reactions as well as information revealed in the post-fire.
When visiting the site in the morning, President Abel Pacheco was asked about why weren`t any measures taken after there was a controlled fire earlier in January. Supposedly, during this smaller fire, none of the alarms worked, the keys to the emergency fire extinguishers could not be found and when they were broken into, didn´t work. President Pacheco´s response as he turned his back and walked away was, ¨you guys always look for the hair in the soup¨
Finally, and more importantly, Hospital Calderon Guardia had been receiving written warnings from the fire department that their fire safety facilities were not up to date and needed to be changed starting about 10 years ago. Their response is that they didn´t have enough money.
This failure, and consequent tragedy, expose the soft underbelly of Costa Rica´s economy. Simply put, things here do not get done. While written reports, studies, surveys do exist here, they often end up archived, barely read, with little or no discussion and no exposure to the public. In addition, the legislative process in order to get something done is laggard at best.
The best illustration of this is the response to this tragedy President Pacheco is seriously weighing. In order to get the procedures to the front and get them done in order to carry out the needed steps to preserve the safety of its citizens, President Pacheco is willing to declare a state of emergency. An action that tragically, is probably necessary.
# posted by 
: 1:40 PM
: 1:40 PM
By the way, Christian, what was it that happened to you in Costa Rica healthwise?
# posted by : 1:42 PM
: 1:42 PM
Huffdogg,
I agree with you that Pacheco's comments were ridiculous. He is an embarrassment, as I've commented before on this blog.
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I agree with you that Pacheco's comments were ridiculous. He is an embarrassment, as I've commented before on this blog.
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