Dr. Decapitated By Faulty Elevator At St Joseph Hospital

Houston Chronicle ^ | August 17, 2003 | Peggy O'Hare

[demkicker]

An aspiring missionary doctor, who was voted by medical school classmates as the epitome of a good physician, was killed Saturday at Christus St. Joseph Hospital when an elevator malfunctioned, decapitating him, authorities said.

Hitoshi Nikaidoh, 35, of Dallas, a surgical resident at the hospital at 1919 La Branch, was stepping onto a second-floor elevator in the main building around 9:30 a.m. when the doors closed, pinning his shoulders, said Harold Jordan, an investigator with the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office. The elevator car then moved upward, severing the doctor's head, Jordan said.

"It is an unexpected and tragic loss," said Dr. Hisashi Nikaidoh, Hitoshi's father, from his Dallas area home. "He is an outgoing and very caring person."

A woman who also works at the hospital was on the elevator at the time and witnessed the accident, police said. Because of the malfunction, she was trapped on the elevator for 15 or 20 minutes before firefighters were able to reach her, police said.

The woman was not injured, but was later taken to the emergency room because she was in shock, said Sgt. Kenneth Perkins of the Houston Police Department's Special Operations Division.

Nikaidoh was on duty at the time and wearing his doctor coat and surgical scrubs when the accident happened, Jordan said.

The scene was one of chaos when police and firefighters first arrived at the hospital, Perkins said. Medical personnel were in disbelief, some crying.

"They were trying to console one another. Just to see other people in disarray -- the looks on their faces pretty much told the whole story," he said.

Police have launched an investigation into the accident. St. Joseph Hospital officials have taken the entire elevator bank out of service, but normal patient services have not been interrupted.

Hospital officials would not answer any questions Saturday about the accident since the investigation has just begun. They also would not reveal the name of the elevator manufacturer.

One worker at the hospital said there had been problems in the past with these particular elevators and that maintenance crews had been trying to service them in the past week, Perkins said.

Nikaidoh was a member of the 2003 class of the University of Texas-Houston Medical School, where he previously served as Student InterCouncil President, the student-leader over six schools within the medical center.

He became a devout Christian while in medical school, his father said. He became a youth group leader and decided to become a missionary doctor.

Hospital spokeswoman India Chumney Hancock would not discuss Nikaidoh's background or how long he had been with the hospital. "In respect for the family, we're not giving out any information," she said Saturday.

"Since the investigation has just begun, we're not answering any questions at this time," she said.

Both city and state inspectors will review the fatal accident, said a licensed elevator inspector who served on the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation Department advisory board.

"Annual inspections are required, and I'm familiar with that hospital building and know they have a contracted (maintenance) company," said Alan Van Nort, a member of the state's Elevators, Escalators and Related Equipment Advisory Board.

Van Nort said he also is familiar with another hospital elevator accident earlier this year that injured 14 passengers, including 12 patients, at the Intracare Hospital in the Texas Medical Center area. The elevator dropped several floors before jerking to a stop and broke several passengers' bones and hurt backs and necks.

But hospital elevators are not inspected any more intensely than office building elevators, Van Nort said.

"The city has primary responsibility for inspections, and then reports of any incident go to the state for review," he said.

Mignette Yvonne Dorsey, spokeswoman for the City of Houston Building Services, said the city would be tracking the inspections done by the City Planning Department's inspectors. But there was no specific inspection information available from the city Saturday night.

[neb52]

Damn I guess I will be living and working at a one story buildings for now on. Thanks-a-lot. :D

[HairOfTheDog]

[[[[[SHUDDER]]]]]]

Man - what a tragedy.

[neb52]

Yeah the Baylor Houston Hospital got flooded up to the second floor. Don't remember if anybody got hurt or died though.

[Charles H. (The_r0nin)]

I can't get on an elevator anymore. A long time ago, when I was working my way through college, I worked as a security guard in a large building. One evening, about 7:30, the elevator's regulator had an "issue." Seems it mistakenly thought that there were several floors below the first floor, and so it didn't stop... until it hit the bottom of the shaft. I had gotten on the thing on the 5th floor. The elevator guys who came in to look at the thing told me that the elevator was pretty much in the equivalent of free-fall from the 3rd floor down. I escaped with only minor injuries. The whole time I talked to the repairman, while we looked down at the canted elevator in the shaft, he kept telling me, "You should have broken both your legs, if not your back! It could have easily killed you!" I just can't handle the feeling of dropping everytime I get in one.

BTW, as a bit of trivia, did you know that many older elevators have a "buffer" in the bottom of the shaft to prevent anyone in the shaft from getting crushed by an elevator that comes down? In the one I was in, the buffer looked to be a large steel cylinder surrounded by concrete, about 12 inches in diameter and 5 feet in height. At least, that's what it looked like coming up out of the floor of the elevator...

[demkicker]

My company had several people working in the medical center during Alicia and said it was pretty hairy evacuating floors and moving patients who were on respirators to higher ground. They had to manually respirate them until getting them moved and hooked back up, thanks to the back up generator. They said it was a nightmare they'll never forget.

[RichInOC]

One of the nastiest things I've ever seen in a movie.

(Movie trivia: I didn't realize this until looking it up just now, but that was Meshach Taylor playing the doctor.)

[Servant of the Nine]

Nope Baylor always settles out of court so they don't have to change any policies. They just throw money at the person threatening to sue hoping the problem will go away. Baylor does this so the media doesn't find out and keep a good PR image.

Yeah, and their Basketball Coaches lie to the Police and the Press.

Seriously, this is a very old hospital on the edge of downtown Houston, far from the Houston Medical Center. It is not a place there has been any reason but ignorance to be admitted to for the past 40 years.

SO9

[demkicker]

Thanks for sharing your elevator survival story. I sure felt sorry for all the folks stuck in elevators during the blackout. Heard on Fox News that NY City alone had 800 elevator rescues! My closterphobic daughter cringed just thinking about it.

[Servant of the Nine]

I haven't ridden on an elevator in 7 years. I always take the stairs because of shit like this. Terrible.

Don't do much business above the 30th floor do you?

So9

[Saundra Duffy]

Rest In Peace and may the Good Lord bless and comfort the family. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

[Lazamataz]

This is a HUGE lawsuit in the making. And how come elevator door motors are strong enough to decapitate???

[neb52]

Sounds like they need a surprise visit from JACHO to catch them at their worst. They must make things look good when JACHO comes for their annual visit to make sure everthing is up to snuff. Somebody that works at that hospital needs to file a complant with JACHO, otherwise nobody will really know how bad things are there.

[Servant of the Nine]

how come elevator door motors are strong enough to decapitate???

They aren't, but the lift motors are and when the elevator went up, he was sliced.

SO9

[Shooter 2.5]

"Resident Evil" rocks.

There are very few movies I like to watch once, let alone three times.

I heard they're going to make a sequel.

[RandallFlagg]

"Resident Evil" rocks. There are very few movies I like to watch once, let alone three times. I heard they're going to make a sequel.

They are. However Mr. Anderson won't be directing it. He's begining the role of Director for the movie, "Aliens Versus Predator," in October.

[ErnBatavia]

I worked at a place where this happened to a maintenance man a long time ago. It was my misfortune to have an office facing the freight elevator doors on the floor below.

Exact ditto here in the food warehouse district of Los Angeles. One of the nicest drivers I knew got his head lopped exactly this way.

[joesnuffy]

What a loss ... And what pain...and trauma for the woman trapped in the elevator helpless to do a thing The shock to everyone involved and the victims family And the loss of a fine aspiring physician and missionary

He became a devout Christian while in medical school, his father said. He became a youth group leader and decided to become a missionary doctor.

He is with Jesus now...the highest greatest good thing that can ever happen to a human.. God Bless his family friends and co workers and give them peace and heal the trauma of the witness to this terrible thing...

[LSAggie]

Regarding your comment about people just wanting money and not caring about policy changes--that may not be entirely correct, depends on state law.

When my husband was seriously injured in an accident, I hit the "net" to find out all I could about the company at fault. I was horrified by their safety record and wanted it all on the record. Our attorney told us, and it has been confirmed by other attorneys that in Missouri, once a company admits liability, all information regarding their safety record, number of persons killed or injured by their negligence, etc. is moot and cannot be used at trial. The purpose is to take the "emotion" out of the case, and just put $$ to the damages.

Additionally, the h-ll the plantiffs are put through by the defendant's lawyers is incredible, but that's rather off-topic, so I'll save it for another thread.