Hospital under fire after patient dies in flame

Xinhua, August 26, 2011

A Shanghai hospital was under fire after a patient died in flames that engulfed one of its operating rooms Wednesday night, family members and hospital sources said Thursday.

The 49-year-old patient surnamed Zhu was receiving an amputation following a traffic accident at Baogang Hospital in Shanghai's Baoshan District, a man surnamed Wang, who claimed to be Zhu's brother-in-law, said in an interview with Xinhua.

The operation was almost finished when the fire broke out at around 9:40 p.m., he said.

While Zhu, who had received general anesthesia and was unable to move, was suffocated to death, all the six medical workers, including doctors, nurses and an anaesthetist, fled the scene and survived.

"We saw smokes coming from the window of the operating room. Then doctors and nurses dashed out. When we asked about the patient, they said he was still 'inside there'", said Wang.

Before the anxious family members could enter the room to Zhu's rescue, firemen arrived and told them to wait outside, he said.

Zhu's nephew, surnamed Jin, said he entered the hospital building after the flames were put out. "Firemen were cleaning up the scene and power was cut out. I saw my uncle's body on the ground, covered with white cloth."

Jin said he saw no burnt injuries on Zhu's body. "The flames did not spread to the room where he was being operated on. He was apparently suffocated to death."

The hospital's president Fang Yong said the fire started with an ozone sterilizer in one of the operating rooms. "A nurse spotted the fire and tried to put it out with a fire extinguisher, while an anaesthetist dialed the fire alarm."

But the flames spread quickly and thick smog began to accumulate.

"Power supplies were cut off, and an emergency UPS system was turned on to keep the patient's breathing machine running," said Fang.

It did not occur to the doctors, however, that the thick smog may still suffocate the patient even though the breathing machine was working, he said.

Fang said firemen arrived about five minutes after the fire broke out, and took 30 minutes to put out the flames.

Though the cause of the fire is still under investigation, Fang admitted the hospital was responsible for the patient's death. "We have to say our staff made the wrong judgement, and were not professional enough in providing adequate first-aid."

The incident caught widespread attention on the Internet Thursday, with many postings criticizing the medical workers who fled. Some Internet users even accused them of manslaughter.

A few postings, however, expressed sympathy for the doctors, saying they have to save themselves before saving others.

One Internet user said the operation bed weighs at least 200 kg and is often hard to be moved when power is cut off. "It's also fatal to remove the tube connecting to the anesthesia machine before the patient can breathe independently."

His comment was echoed by Prof. Wen, a noted anaesthetist in Shanghai.

Wen said it would be acceptable for the medical workers to escape if their own lives were at risk and the patient was safe.

"But they will be held responsible if they failed to take necessary measures to ensure the patient's safety before the fire became uncontrollable."

If the doctors escaped after making sure all the equipment was running well and the patient was safe, then their evacuation would be justified, said Shanghai-based law professor Tang Xiaotian.

Tang said authorities have launched an investigation into whether the fleeing doctors and nurses had performed their duty properly before running for their lives.