Born, like other comic book characters, out of an otherwise trivial but life-changing animal bite, the Rabid Librarian seeks out strange, useless facts, raves about real and perceived injustices, and seeks to meet her greatest challenge of all--her own life.
In a revelation sure to add to the controversy, Bucharest Mayor Sorin Oprescu told reporters Monday that only three of Bucharest's 21 hospitals have a fire alarm system. It was unclear whether any have sprinkler systems, but Giulesti hospital — one of the capital's best, where the tragedy occurred — did not.
A massive shortage of medical staff, bribes to doctors and nurses to ensure better treatment, and chronic underfunding or high debts run by hospitals are everyday obstacles that patients need to negotiate. Supply shortages mean that operations sometimes do not get performed if patients do not supply their own bandages, syringes, surgical thread and antibiotics.
Israeli doctors who rushed to Romania on Wednesday said they feared there was not much they could do to help seven premature infants who were critically burned in a hospital fire that left four other babies dead.
Romanian doctors at Bucharest's Grigore Alexandrescu children's hospital where the injured babies are being treated said the infants weigh just 1 to 2.5 kilograms (2.2 to 5.5 pounds) and are burned on up to 80 per cent of their bodies and respiratory tracts.
Monday's blaze at Giulesti maternity hospital forced the evacuation of dozens of babies and women -- some in labour. The accident provoked a wave of public indignation, throwing light on Romania's poorly funded and understaffed health system.
Romanian health official Marius Savu said there had been one nurse on duty at the intensive care unit instead of the mandatory four because of staffing cuts, Mediafax news agency reported.
Doctor Josef Haik, part of a team from Tel Aviv University, told reporters that "I don't think we can do any more here."
Iacob said last week that medical staff at the hospital were in another room, apparently having a celebration, when the blaze broke out.
The fire started in an electrical cable attached to the air-conditioning unit of the intensive care room, according to prosecutors' preliminary conclusions. It quickly swept through the room, burning incubators and melting medical equipment.
Another member of the medical staff, not Cirstea, was the one who called for help when the blaze was discovered, Iacob said.
Surveillance camera footage released by the government last week showed medical staff and parents frantically trying to enter the burning intensive care unit, using a chair to break down automatic doors. The doors could only be opened with an access card, which no one had at the time. Seconds later, the hallway filled with smoke.
The fire broke out on August 16th. The temperature in the room had reached 400 degrees Fahrenheit, according to authorities. These are babies that are premature, with immature airways that have been burnt as well as their skin. Please keep them and their families in your thoughts. I had not heard of this story until YKWIA told me about it.