Hospital Investigated After Patient Catches Fire

Story out of New York City, New York:

State investigators slammed NYU Langone Medical Center for lapses in safety procedures and communications that resulted in an operating-room fire while a patient was undergoing surgery, The Post has learned.

Probers cited a “communications failure between the surgeon and anesthesiologist,” who wasn’t aware a certain instrument would be used “in the presence of oxygen,” according to the state Health Department’s report on the 2014 blaze which was obtained by The Post under a Freedom of Information Law request.

“It was evident that the hospital failed to provide surgical services that conformed to current standards of practice,” the report said.

The name of the patient, nature and date of the surgery, and the type of instrument that started the fire were not revealed in the state report, which was heavily redacted.

“When the surgeon used the [redacted] in the presence of oxygen, there was a spark escalating to a surgical fire that involved the [redacted] and the [redacted] and the patient,” the report said.

It is even unclear how badly the patient was injured. The report censors the information, saying, “The patient sustained [redacted].” Cont.

Story from - New York Post