Woman Dies After Surgery Fire

2009-09-18 23:49:08 (GMT) (WiredPRNews.com - Medical News, News)

Wired PR News reports a woman recently died after being burned in a fire during surgery.

An Illinois woman died days after being burnt in a fire during surgery.

Press Release Service – Wired PR News – An Illinois woman died after having surgery in a rare flash fire. As reported by the Associated Press (AP), Janice McCall, 65, died days after being burned while undergoing an operation at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

Robert Howerton, an attorney for McCall’s family, is quoted by the AP as stating of the incident Thursday, “The family is in shock and suffering their grief… Every family has an anchor, and she was it. They’re really just devastated,” but did not provide any additional details.

Surgical flash fires reportedly occur approximately 550-600 times per year, causing one or two deaths on average. As noted by the AP, they are typically attributed to sparks from electrical tools triggered by oxygen build up under surgical drapes.

Mark Bruley with nonprofit health research agency ECRI Institute is quoted in the report as stating of mounting concerns over these types of fires, “What we’ve been advocating for years is that the open delivery of oxygen under the drapes essentially has to stop.”

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