RSUTH Resident Doctor Dies After 72 Hours On Continuous Duty

A young resident doctor at Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH), Dr. Femi Rotiifah, has tragically died after working continuously for 72 hours.

Reports say Dr. Rotiifah had been on non-stop call duty in the Emergency Room for three days before retiring to the call room to rest, where he collapsed and later died. Attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful, and his colleagues confirmed his death.

The President of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), Dr. Tope Osundara, confirmed the incident, saying: “He was on call in the Emergency Room and went to the call room to rest, and it was there that he died. Unfortunately, he was the only doctor attending to patients. The overuse of manpower strained his health and led to this painful death. It was a death on duty.”

Dr. Rotiifah, a former President of the Port Harcourt University Medical Students’ Association (PUMSA), was registered with the UK’s General Medical Council and awaiting placement abroad.

His friends and fellow doctors have taken to social media to mourn his passing.