17 provinces' hospitals damaged by earthquake, says ministry
Hospitals in 17 provinces were damaged due to the recent earthquake as of 4pm on Friday. Most of the buildings have cracks, the Public Health Ministry reported.
Those affected by the earthquake are located in Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Phrae, Phayao, Nan, Lampang, Lamphun, Mae Hong Son, Phitsanulok, Phetchabun, Chainat, Nonthaburi, Nakhon Pathom, Samut Sakhon, Mahasarakham, Loei, and Bangkok.
Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsuthin has tasked relevant agencies with monitoring updates from the Thai Meteorological Department, surveying damage to buildings, equipment, officials and patients.
If the building is safe and without cracks, hospital directors have been instructed to admit patients for hospitalisation and prepare medical staff to care for the injured.
Relevant agencies have been urged to prepare a Mental Health Care Team from both the Department of Mental Health (1,000 people) and the Public Health Ministry's Office of the Permanent Secretary to provide care in the affected areas.
Meanwhile, Sakan Bunnag, deputy director-general of the Department of Medical Services, said that Lerdsin Hospital in Bangkok’s Bang Rak district experienced significant damage, including cracked buildings and collapsed pedestrian pathways, but fortunately, no one was injured.
He also reported that a one-month-old child at the Queen Sirikit National Institute of Child Health in Ratchathewi district had died due to a cerebral haemorrhage.
He explained that there had been prior discussions with the patient's relatives, and palliative care was provided from the start.
During the earthquake and the ICU transfer, the child's heart stopped once, and CPR was performed, but it stopped again. The staff did their utmost to help, he emphasised.
