Indiana Injury Law Blog

The death of a female patient, who died in a flash fire in an operating room last week, has had Indiana medical malpractice lawyers and safety experts around the country concerned about the frequency with which these fires occur every year.

65-year-old Janice McCall was undergoing surgery at the Heartland Regional Medical Center in Marion in Illinois, when a sudden flash fire in the operating room caused her serious burn injuries. She was rushed to a Tennessee hospital, but died six days later. Heartland's statement after her death says that there was an “accidental flash fire” in the hospital's operating room, and McCall was injured before the fire was put out. Nobody else in the operating room was injured.

The tragic incident has raised focus on surgical fires, which remain a rare, but deadly, occurrence in our hospitals. According to data from the ECRI Institute, every year there are abut 550 to 650 surgical fires that occur in operating rooms. Out of these, up to 30 result in serious injuries, and one or two cases result in a fatality. According to ECRI forensic investigators, most flash fires occur when high oxygen levels cause material like surgical sheets in the operating room, to ignite. High oxygen levels can often be found under these sheets or drapes. Other common causes of flash fires are alcohol-based cleaners. The cleaner must be fully dried before laying out the electronic surgical equipment. Otherwise, the vapors can ignite, causing a sudden flash fire.

Whatever the cause of surgical fires, experts are unanimous that these are 100 percent preventable. Prevention depends on operating room staff controlling conditions in a room to prevent a fire.

There are several steps that hospital staff can take to prevent a fire.
Alcohol-based solutions must be given sufficient time to dry out. Two to three minutes may be sufficient.
Steps must be taken to prevent oxygen build up under drapes.

The Indiana medical malpractice lawyers at Theodoros a& Rooth represent victims of medical negligence, including surgical errors, emergency room errors, diagnostic failures, medication errors and other forms of medical malpractice in Merrillville, and around the state of Indiana.