Tobago: Family blames hospital for electrician’s death after 10-hr CT scan delay

Trinidad and Tobago: The family of 60-year-old Darryl Figaro of Mt Hay, Black Rock, Tobago, is calling for justice and are claiming the medical system’s negligence for the victim’s death. Figaro, a well-known electrician, died reportedly during the early hours of Wednesday, July 2, after falling from a ladder at a job site in Bon Accord the previous evening. 

It is reported that around 5:15 pm on Tuesday, July 1, Figaro was coming out from a roof through a ladder after examining a leak at Moore Vibes Villa in Bon Accord, Tobago, when he lost his balance and fell. The family claims that the victim was bleeding from his ears and nose following which he was rushed to the Scarborough General Hospital in Tobago, where he was listed in a critical condition. 

According to the relatives, it wasn’t until nearly 10 hours later around 5 am the next morning that the victim finally received a CT scan. The family claim that his prolonged delay has costed him his life.  

The family said that the doctors initially claimed that the CT scan machine of the hospital was not working and they were later told that Darryl would be transferred to the Roxborough General Hospital for urgent imaging. It is reported that the victim’s children had flown in from Trinidad and they arrived at the Scarborough General Hospital around 12 30 am on July 2 where they were met with confusion.  

“The doctor started to give us the runaround, like she was hiding something,” said his daughter. “She eventually said my father was paralyzed and never woke up… then she said he had ‘flatlined.’ When I asked if that meant he died, she told me, ‘I didn’t say that.’ It was like they couldn’t even tell us if he was alive or dead.” 

Minutes later, the family received a phone call from someone claiming Darryl had died five hours earlier. Following this, there was a huge chaos in the waiting area and the daughter recounted, “I asked the receptionist, ‘What the hell is going on? Is my father dead or alive?’ Then the doctor came out and told me if I didn’t calm down, I would have to leave. But we were desperate for answers.” 

At one point, the doctor told the family, “We just got a pulse.” But Darryl's body was already ice cold, with blood running from his head and pooling in his chest, requiring a chest tube. 

It was not until around 4:00 a.m., when a different doctor demanded an emergency CT scan, that a technician from Roxborough was called in. The scan was finally performed around 5:00 a.m., and Figaro was rushed to the ICU. 

However, it was too late and at 5:35 a.m., his family heard the dreaded flatline alarm themselves. Despite efforts to revive him with an AED machine, Darryl Figaro was officially pronounced dead at 6:30 a.m. 

Following the untimely death, the victim’s family is blaming the hosptial’s negligence, questioning why he was not immediately airlifted to Trinidad or sent to Roxborough earlier, especially if Scarborough lacked a working CT scanner and neurosurgical support. 

The daughter called for justice and said that this was negligence and failure and added that his father was a kind, hardworking man and he did not deserve this. “The medical system in Tobago failed him, and we want answers. We want justice,” she added.