Personal Injury Law

Chicago Medical Malpractice?: Woman Dies from Injuries Sustained During Surgical Fire

The family of Janice McCall is reeling following news that the 65-year-old woman died from thermal burn injuries. What is even more upsetting is that McCall sustained her burns during a surgical fire that broke out while she was undergoing surgery. The medical examiner?s office is calling her death an accident.

The Marion, Illinois hospital where the fire broke out, Heartland Regional Medical Center, says that the accidental flash fire was extinguished immediately after it broke out. The family?s Chicago wrongful death lawyer says that McCall was her family?s anchor and they are devastated by this unexpected loss.

Surgical fires can cause great pain and suffering, physical scarring, disfigurement, and other injuries and health complications for the victim and they can be grounds for a Chicago medical malpractice lawsuit. Unfortunately, surgical fires are not as uncommon as we would like to think. It is usually the person on the operating table who suffers when a fire accidentally breaks out during surgery.

About 550-600 surgical fires take place every year. These fires usually occur when oxygen has built up below surgical drapes and they can be sparked by electrical surgical tools. About 1 or 2 fatalities occur every year as a result of a surgical fire.

Surgical fires can be prevented. Surgeons and nurses already know what kinds of materials can spark a surgical fire so it is very important that the proper precautions are exercised so that the patient doesn?t accidentally catch fire. It is important to point out, however, that with electrosurgical devices now used more frequently in the operating room, and more-flammable, synthetic fabric replacing cloth hospital drapes, there is growing concern that the risk of surgical fires is rising.

Mark Bruley, of the ECRI Institute, is even recommending that anesthesiologists no longer use 100% oxygen and that they dilute the concentration of oxygen with room air when electronic surgical tools are in use.

Illinois woman dies following surgical fire, AP/MSNBC, September 17, 2009

Illinois woman Janice McCall dies after fire in OR during surgery at Vanderbilt University hospital, NY Daily News, September 18, 2009

Related Web Resources:
SurgicalFire.Org

Preventing surgical fires

Full post as published by Chicago Injury Attorney Blog on September 20, 2009 (boomark / email).