KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) has urged the Health Ministry to investigate a recent case involving the death of a 5-year-old girl after her mother, a Shah Alam Hospital staffer, left her unattended in a car for several hours.
Noting that this is not the first instance of such an incident involving hospital personnel, MMA president Dr Azizan Abdul Aziz said the ministry should probe into whether there were similar factors in those cases.
“This is another incident involving a hospital staff and, so, we urge the Health Ministry to look into (whether) tiredness from being overworked may have been a contributing factor, (thus) preventing similar incidents.
“Fatigue can cause lapses in concentration, memory and judgement,” Dr Azizan said in a response to Scoop.
She added that MMA advises all Malaysians to ensure they are well-rested before driving while parents should find ways to remind themselves of their child’s presence in the car.
“Some apps have been designed for this purpose and should be considered for use. Alternatively, un-silent your phone and set an alarm for the best time to remind yourself to check the back seat of your vehicle.”
Shah Alam district police chief Mohd Iqbal Ibrahim said police investigations into the incident, which occurred on Tuesday, found that the child’s mother had left the girl in the car by accident after picking her daughter up at a nearby nursery at about 2pm before returning to work.
“The girl was asleep in the car with the engine switched off. The child’s 34-year-old mother only realised the incident when her husband contacted her at 6pm.
“The victim was then taken to the Shah Alam Hospital emergency department in an unconscious state and was pronounced dead after efforts to revive her failed,” he said in a statement today.
Investigations, he added, were being conducted under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act, which criminalises the abuse, neglect, abandonment or exposure of a child in a manner likely to cause them physical or emotional injury.
In October last year, an 8-month-old baby girl died after she was left in a car parked at Canselor Tuanku Muhriz Hospital in Cheras for 10 hours.
The girl was mistakenly left in the vehicle when her doctor mother went to work at the hospital thinking that she had already sent the child to a daycare centre. – February 1, 2024