During some medical and surgical procedures, doctors will provide patients with an oxygen supply. Given the rather combustible nature of oxygen, it is very important for hospitals and medical professionals to make sure to not commit any negligence that could create a fire hazard when performing procedures in which an oxygen supply is being used. When oxygen-related flash fires occur during a medical or surgical procedure, the results can be deadly.
Recently, in another state, a wrongful death case has come up involving a flash fire at a hospital.
The case involves a woman who underwent some tests and procedures at a hospital in Florida in 2013 after she began experiencing internal bleeding.
One of the procedures was an arterial biopsy. According to the woman’s family, during this procedure, a flash fire broke out due to the mixing of electrical currents with oxygen that was being supplied to the woman through a face mask. The woman’s family says that the woman suffered burn injuries from this flash fire and that these injuries led to the woman dying on Jan. 23, 2014.
The hospital, three doctors and an anesthesiology group are being sued by the woman’s family in relation to the incident.
When a family here in Illinois suffers the loss of a loved one due to an out-of-the-ordinary occurrence, such as a fire, during a medical or surgical procedure at a hospital, a natural question they may have is: was the out-of-the-ordinary occurrence caused by misconduct by the hospital? Medical malpractice attorneys can help investigate these sorts of questions.
Source: Miami Herald, “Lawsuit: Surgical flash fire resulted in death of Coconut Creek woman,” Julie K. Brown, March 5, 2014