There is still a rat problem at the Western Regional Hospital in Belmopan - and tonight, the news is about an outrageous, unprecedented, appalling incident: a rat bit a new born baby on the foot. The baby was born last night and placed in an incubator in the nursery but sometime during the early morning, the nurse saw that a rat had squirmed into the incubator and bitten the baby. That's right, a rat bit an hours old baby in an incubator! Today when we spoke to the Hospital Administrator Bernadette Seaver she told us that the rat may have entered the hospital through a newly installed AC system and then forced its way through the tube leading to the incubator. Here's how she explained it.
Jules Vasquez
"Explain to me, what is the situation with the newborn? There was a new born child, born yesterday to a young woman and we received a report that a rodent, a rat had bitten the newborn's foot. What do you all know about this?"
Bernadette Seaver, Administrator, WRH
"Yes, indeed it occurred this morning and the pediatrician was called in immediately to address the matter and look after the child. The pediatrician gave all clearance. The child was well taken care of and stable and mother and child are doing well and in good mood."
Mark Bernard, Senior Public Health Inspector
"Any kind of disease that is passed by a rat got to be taken care by the pediatrician. So her medical intervention will definitely cover that. As you know we had a problem about the food storage area. So we did some extensive renovations and as a matter of fact as we speak, we have a rodent control program going on right now. We have an exterminator who comes in regularly and we have seen tremendous results. But what is contributing to this problem is that this hospital is an old institution. It is on the ground level. As a matter of fact rats walk in just like how patients walk in. It's on the ground floor. There is nothing to really keep them from getting in and so the question is that what are we doing to these critical areas? The area where the baby was is a very clean area. The only opening is the vent and probably that was a common mistake that sometimes these contractors do when they bore holes and they don't seal that area properly. Roaches, rats can actually gain access to inside of the building. So the steps that we are looking at right now is to seal all openings in critical areas; if there are any in the operating theater, if there are any in the sterile area. Well this one currently we need to look at that. The kitchen is pretty much under control and so that's what we will be focusing on."
"We have clear out the pantry properly. We have resurfaced the floor, the areas of the walls where the rats gain entry, those were plastered, tiled - it's beautiful, it's spacious. There are no areas where they can visible hide. So the only way they would gain entry into the pantry is when you would open the door and you actually bring them in or if you are bringing in groceries and they are actually in there - that's the main area."
"The second part, what we have look at the infestation and when we have that incident there, that speaks to a heavy infestation, meaning there are a lot of rats. When you see a rat running about in an area and they tend to be secretive creatures - we know that we have a big problem. So we've gone from a heavy infestation to now we are down to almost a minimal infestation. The guy that was doing the eradication for us, he picked up about 15 of them. So the activities are down. We are not seeing them as much. We look for traces of rat droppings and we don't find that. We have put a system in place where the garbage is removed. By garbage, I mean like let's say food scraps from where the staff eat and stuff like that."
You all may remember in late April when the hospital staff found rats in the storage room - the drawers and cupboards were over-run. Well, they have made a major improvement in that room and so the public health inspector Mark Bernard told us that this incident just shows that they still have more work to do. Bernard also spoke to us about the measures in place to contain the rat population.
Bernadette Seaver, Administrator, WRH
"The rats was found inside the incubator and immediately the rat was removed and exterminated/killed and the child was looked after. We suspected that the rat squeeze its way through the tube venting in the incubator and it was found inside the incubator and every effort is being made to figure where the rat came from, because the room was recently cleaned thoroughly and we were in heighten lookout for rodents, because we are still on the campaign to control the rat population here at the hospital."
Jules Vasquez
"You removed and exterminated. Are we talking about a mouse or are we talking about a rat? We know that you've had rat problems here before."
Mark Bernard, Senior Public Health Inspector
"In my estimation based on what I was told, I think it was a small one - probably a little rat."
When we approached the mother she told us she was not aware but when we called the Regional Manager she said they did inform the mother but that the mother was just nervous and didn't want to disclose any information. The inspector Bernard told us there is now what he describes as minimal infestation.
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