Baby Dies After Sydney Hospital Bungle

[icyfroth]

A devastating error at a southwestern Sydney hospital has left one baby dead and another seriously brain damaged, the NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner has confirmed.

"I am profoundly sorry for the families of a newborn who died and another newborn who was severely affected after the wrong gas was dispensed through a neonatal resuscitation outlet at Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital," Ms Skinner said in a statement on Monday evening.

The babies, who were born in the last two months, were accidentally given nitrous oxide instead of oxygen.

Entire Article Here

I can't begin to imagine how devastated the family must be and the paint they're going through.

Also the medical staff who were involved in the incident.

News reports are saying it was due to an error in the installation of the gas connection.

"The legal General Council for NSW Health has since written to the private company, BOC Limited to find out how the error occurred.

The South Western Sydney Local Health District is also conducting a formal investigation into the staff at the hospital, to see if they could have detected the error."

[bsal6160]

i would have thought that something so important in life-saving care that it would be checked by hospital staff at least weekly for correctness?

[icyfroth]

I guess no-one expected anything like that to happen.

[bsal6160]

Being heavily involved in WHS that should be one of their Risk Mitigation Strategies to prevent this from happening. An easily foreseeable mix up.

[icyfroth]

Apparently not.

A third baby has been linked to the ongoing gas mix-up scandal at Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital.

The third newborn had to be resuscitated at the hospital in January 2014, when an oxygen bottle ran out in a birthing suite.

In a statement this morning, the hospital said the baby had survived the incident.

"In January 2014 a baby was delivered in the birthing unit at Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital who required resuscitation," the hospital said.

"During resuscitation the oxygen cylinder emptied and staff transferred the baby to the Special Care Nursery to ensure ongoing oxygen supply for the resuscitation."

Following an investigation into the birth, the hospital reportedly installed outlets in the birthing unit to provide a constant oxygen supply.

A recent mix-up between the internal gas lines of oxygen and nitrous oxide is believed to have caused the death of baby John and serious brain injuries to the second baby.

Entire Article Here

[*tippy*toes*]

The hoses must have been connected wrong behind the wall because the external outlets are different sizes, so it's physically impossible to connect a nitrous hose to oxygen. They can't be connected wrong. Suction, oxygen, air, nitrous, CO2 are all different sizes. Doesn't matter how hard you try you cannot connect them up wrong. If they were connected wrong in the wall then it's the fault of whoever installed them, not the hospital staff. Then the question begs, why weren't more babies affected?

Scandal?

[***super_nova***]

Yes, I also wondered why were not more babies affected if the connections were done weeks ago.  Also why the connectors would be all the same?   It should be done such a way that mistakes were not possible.

[davidc4430]

murphys law

if something can go wrong it will go wrong

nothing is ever perfect

i would imagine there are a few tradies feeling very sick right now.

did they do it on purpose, of course not but it doesnt change the outcome.

no winners in this story.

[davidc4430]

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@davidc4430 wrote:

murphys law

if something can go wrong it will go wrong

nothing is ever perfect

i would imagine there are a few tradies feeling very sick right now.

did they do it on purpose, of course not but it doesnt change the outcome.

no winners in this story.

---

oh, and please lets not go on a witch hunt trial by media.

[***super_nova***]

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@davidc4430 wrote:

murphys law

if something can go wrong it will go wrong

nothing is ever perfect

no winners in this story.

---

But such things like this should be set up in a way that nothing can go wrong.  Different size connectors would make it impossibles, and as mentioned above there are different size connectors on the wall, so why not behind the wall?