WATERBURY, Conn. (AP) – A surgical patient at Waterbury Hospital was burned in a flash fire in the operating room, hospital officials said.
The 60-year-old man sustained minor burns to his face from a flash fire from a piece of equipment that malfunctioned, said Sheila Hogan, hospital spokeswoman. The man, whose name has not been released, is in stable condition. The surgery was intended to be a one-day affair; instead, he was held overnight for observation, Hogan said.
The hospital staff had extinguished the fire by the time Waterbury firefighters arrived, said Deputy Fire Chief Dave Martin.
Hogan did not know the name of the equipment that malfunctioned, but said it will be evaluated to determine what went wrong.
“Any incident in the hospital receives such a thorough investigation internally, externally and by the joint commission on hospitals,” Hogan said.
“So, we are held to a high standard of explaining to determine what causes something like this.”
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Information from: Republican-American, http://www.rep-am.com
AP-ES-11-30-06 0131EST
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