E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Courtesy the Grice Family via Cr
Kim Grice, shown before and after her face caught on fire during surgery Tuesday to remove cysts in her head.
It was supposed to be a routine outpatient surgery to remove some growths from Kim Grice’s head. But something went horribly wrong during the Tuesday morning procedure and a flash fire seared Grice’s face and neck.
The 29-year-old mother of three was rushed by helicopter to the University of South Alabama Burn Unit with burns to her face and neck.
Grice’s mom, who had been waiting in the lobby of the North Okaloosa Medical Center in Crestview, Fla., knew something bad had happened.
“At 8 a.m. two patients were back there,” Ann Grice told the Crestview (Fla.) News Bulletin. “One was my daughter. At 10:20 emergency medical and the fire department pulled up and there was a fifty-fifty chance that they were coming through the doors for my daughter. I went to the desk and no one would tell me what was wrong.”
When hospital personnel finally explained that Kim’s face had caught fire, Ann was stunned.
“I am in shock,” she told the Bulletin. “This is not what happens with a routine outpatient surgery. She had headaches and the doctor was going to remove three cysts and biopsy them. But something went bad wrong and my daughter is now in a burn unit with burn specialists and I still don’t know what happened. No one will tell me why or how this happened to her.”
What happened to Kim Grice was not an isolated incident. Experts estimate that each year 650 fires flare up in operating rooms around the country. Some patients recover with scars and emotional damage. Some die from burns and smoke inhalation.
Surgeons and other hospital staff are often as surprised as patients when a fire sparks in the OR.
North Okaloosa Medical Center issued a statement with an update on Kim Grice’s condition, promising a full investigation of the fire.
“The hospital deeply regrets today’s event in which a patient sustained burns during a procedure in our ambulatory surgery center,” the statement read. “The staff took immediate steps to respond, including moving the patient to the hospital’s emergency department. The patient was fully alert and able to converse with the ED staff during the examination and initial treatment. She was stabilized and then transferred to the University of South Alabama Medical Center for further care.
Experts say it shouldn’t be a surprise when fires flash in ORs. All the necessary ingredients are on hand to spark a conflagration.
These days more and more operations use electro-cautery devices and lasers. Those devices are what Dr. David Cowles calls the “trifecta” of elements – oxygen, alcohol prep and an ignition source - that lead to flash fires in the OR.
Story: Operating room fires hurt hundreds a year
“There’s a basic simple chemistry and physics principle that when three elements are combined then a fire occurs,” Cowles told NBC’s Dr. Nancy Snyderman in a recent interview. “Likewise, if you remove any one of those elements it makes it impossible for a fire to occur.
The FDA launched a new initiative to prevent surgical fires, noting that though these are rare events, they are also highly preventable. The agency convened a special workshop to look for ways to stop fires from ever happening and to give medical personnel the tools and knowledge needed to deal with a fire if one occurs.
Until more hospitals learn about the danger of fire in the OR, each year there will be more patients like Kim Grice.
"I am so ready to see my babies," she told the Crestview Bulletin in a telephone interview Thursday from the South Alabama Medical Center's burn unit. "But I don't want them to see me this way.”
NBC's chief medical editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman looks into the increasing rate of fires in operating rooms, leading the FDA to create a new, surgical fire-safety initiative.
Leave a Comment:
Im so sorry this happened. My husband is now in Harborview in the burn unit because of the same thing. He went to get a bump of his head. The mask caught on fire and they had to intibate him with a breathing tube. He almost died. I am beside myself. This is just wrong.
This is SO terrible!
This is exactly what is wrong with America today! Any little thing that goes wrong and we sue! Yes it is tragic what happened to this lady and it was tragic what happened to the lady that spilt hot coffee on herself at McDonalds but taking a business to court is not the answer.
These are the kind of laws that kill businesses in America and it is why China is overtaking us in production. We need to quit restricting the business community and let them do what they have to do to make money. A doctor doesn't need the government hovering over them all the time. Doctors should be free to conduct business as they see fit without the fear of paying for it later on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That's what you get with Alabama doctors. He was probably drinking moonshine while doing the surgery.
lour.....you comment is stupid!!! First read the article....it happened in Florida and she was transferred to Alabama for care. There are great doctors in Alabama and all across the nation.
That part of Florida is known as the Redneck Riviera and L.A. (Lower Alabama).
spontaneous combustion?
These two photographs can not be of the same person. But,....if so, the hospital has a new owner, no ifs, ands, or buts.
Look at the mark on her chin ... looks like a line made for plastic surgery. Doesn't look like her jaw line as there is a mark just under her bottom lip, as well.
I do feel badly for this woman, no one should end up scarred like that, no matter what s/he was having done.
Several points to consider:
1) This is not a rare event in the operating room. There is one common denominator e.g. oxygen.
2) Yes, alcohol based preps are used. They are eliminated by simply taking a sterile saline cloth(sponge) and cleansing the surgical area after draping, thus eliminating or reducing contributory involvement of alcohol based preps.
3) Draping, If the patient is properly draped and the drape is properly vented, no additional oxygen should come in contact with the surgical/cautery field. There are IOBAN drapes which provide an airtight seal when properly placed upon the surgical area.
4) Suction. Simply placing a suction(Yankauer) device near the surgical site will displace flammable fumes, thus reducing the possibility of ignition.
These are but a few precautions that can be utilized to reduce the possibility of surgical fire ignition. Each and every surgeon/anesthesiologist should be aware of the complications and preventative steps/proceedures necessary to prevent such occurences.
That said: every surgical proceedure has risk involved. I hope the hospital
involved made the patient aware of their individual procedures/responsibiities
to prevent such an event.
I am so sorry this happened. I work in this environment and I've been aware of and
pratcie preventive measures when caring for my surgical patients.
i read of this happening a few years ago to another person. there are indeed fire hazards in the o.r.
the lady who spilled mcdonald's coffee on herself needed a full-thickness skin graft, so it wasn't a minor issue at all. it's trivial, until it happens to you or someone you love.
So sad, I hope she recovers.
Now you know what doctors do is a "practice"!!!!!
Hope you don't need one soon.
Hope not either... The good ones are long dead!!!
It is almost comical reading the opinions and 20/20 hindsight of these "medical experts". How many writers were at the scene of this incident? Which of you has a medical background and worked in an OR?
I have worked in an OR for over 35 years. OR personnel ARE taught fire safety and these lessons are reviewed and updated at mandatory inservices. To the Vietnam vet - there is 21% oxygen in our air. The enriched oxygen atmosphere in an OR is needed for over 99% of surgical cases. Ron Tron came the closest to saying something useful. Alcohol is commonly used to "degrease" the skin, to remove any lotions, moisturizers, natural skin oils and to cleanse the skin to minimize bacteria. It takes a short time to evaporate. The surgeon may not have waited long enough for any residual vapors to be cleared. Another possibility is that some of the cleansing solution "puddled" or "pooled" in the sterile drapes around her head. "Making sure the oxygen mask was strapped tightly" or "reducing the amount of oxygen"; if the patient was under a general anesthetic, there is a good probability that she was intubated and would not have had an oxygen mask on her face. Reducing the amount of oxygen delivered to the patient to a level which would not support combustion would have resulted almost certainly with a patient with severe brain damage.
I agree with all of you who are outraged with what this patient is going through. Fires in the OR are RARE, are sudden and can have horrendous outcomes for everyone concerned. As we continue to have the elements of oxygen, fuel source and electricity in the OR, the best deterrent we have to any 'misadventure' or 'mistake' in the OR is VIGILANCE. Impatience(time is money, don't let the schedule run late, etc.), complacency (it's a "routine procedure" or a "minor" procedure) and other distractions must be minimized. As long as we have human beings in the OR- we will have 'accidents' in the OR. Each of us, whether patient, surgeon, surgical staff, housekeepers or administration must be ALWAYS on guard to keep these incidents to a minimum.
It would appear that the hospital did not live up to its responsibility in communicating with the family. Their apparent effort to CYA, as some folks said, they only fanned the flames (pardon the pun) of misunderstanding. I have been fortunate in the facilities I have worked, that family members were kept aware of any changes to the preoperative plan. Even as the patient was being prepped and then transported to another facility, the burn unit in this case, the family would be updated continually.
Good post from someone who knows what they are talking about.
Hi ALOHA,
You said: "It is almost comical reading the opinions and 20/20 hindsight of these "medical experts". How many writers were at the scene of this incident?."
I was not, were you? Probably not.
You said: "Which of you has a medical background and worked in an OR?"
I do posses a medical background and have worked in an O.R. as you asked.
I agree with you that medicine in todays format is hurried. Alcohol based preparitives do pose a hazard. I disagree with you in that, most commonly the site is prpped with alcohol based derivatives BEFORE draping.
I am sure that in your 35 years of practice you would agree this to be true.
That said: If alcohol based preps were used, the solution would not have pooled as you suggest. Why? Because the prep would have been used Before actual draping, and simple gravity would drain the excess fluid.
Secondly, as you state: "Another possibility is that some of the cleansing solution "puddled" or "pooled" in the sterile drapes around her head. "Making sure the oxygen mask was strapped tightly" or "reducing the amount of oxygen"; if the patient was under a general anesthetic, there is a good probability that she was intubated and would not have had an oxygen mask on her face."
True, however the article failed to inform us of actual ventilation techniques. Perhaps, it was moderate sedation under propofol? Perhaps, it was an LMA? Which would support your hypothesis, which is simple suppostion, as is mine.
Again, I state that most surgical fires should be avoidable. By simple use
of proper technique.
The sad truth is: A young woman has been subjected to an avoidable
adverse event.
I wonder how much more common this was back in the day when everyone still was using all those volatile flammable anesthetics.
This is certainly an incident that is on the rise across the country. This is the third case in a month in 2 states.
Does anybody have a doctor who can speak English without an accent?????
I do.
You're lucky!!!
I do too!
actually its oxygen, fuel and ignition source. OR drapes are flame retardant but they all burn at some point. if alcohol was the main problem they probably draped the patient and didnt allow it to dry. in our OR if you use alcohol in the prep we have to verify that it dried before we drape then document that it was dry before draping.
I worked in surgery. This is a much more common occurrence than most people know. Hospitals hush this up by paying out huge settlements with silence clauses to victims. This is usually the result of getting in a hurry and therefore being careless, and that is what surgery is today, an assembly line. Time is money, and the surgeons and the hospital administrators are always in a hurry.
Glad to see someone who knows what goes on!!!
Yep!
Well don't forget if you settle a claim lawyer get 1/3 your insurance like medicare gets a refund for bills paid It is all a big money making circus for all except the patient!!!!
At least they didn't try to put it out with a track shoe.
Why are doctors always the one receiving the blame? They are not the ones deciding which chemicals and gases are to be used during surgery. The researchers and scientists sitting in a labarotary are the ones to blame. They are the ones to decide what is used in an OR. Doctors are just going by the advice of the researchers and scientists. Believe it or not, doctors don't have complete control over what goes on in the OR.
Sue.
I`d bet she was taking the O2 via a cannula device rather than a mask. There would then likely be a certain amont of free O2 around the nostrils and maybe mouth. The cannula ends in two fairly soft hollow plastic prongs that fit into the nostrils, and are held in place by a slip loop around the head.
Face on Flames? In a clinic? Maybe the clinic is next to a bar & they don't want to admit it & the Dr. was giving her a "Herman"
A.S.S On Flames is a drink
First layer the ingredients starting with the Amaretto, then Sour Apple Pucker, and Southern Comfort. Next float the 151 Rum, light it on fire and shoot the drink.
Drink fast our your F.A.C.E. will be in flames
Jim, how many times are you going to post the same stupid joke?
It wasn't funny the first time, so why does (3 at least that I saw) repeating it somehow appeal to you so much?
It's called SPAM and you're guilty.
Breaking News! Hospital administration has just issued a formal apology, and have pledged to hire competent staff instead of relying on hospital maintenance workers to prep patients for surgery.
Ms. Grice, I sincerely hope all your wounds heal in such a way that your soul will not be disfigured by this most unfortunate tragedy.
Well...she's Batman's problem now.
What an aweful thing to say...
It was just as aweful as the water coming out of my nose with the laugh I had...
Thursday december 1st i went in for routine surgery how ironic remove a bump from my head,no big deal right.I woke up in an ambulance halfway to harborview burn center with the same problem had no idea what was going on could not move or talk seems they did enough to paralyze me since i was on a breathing machine but didnt sedate me enough to keep me asleep.this is a tragedy for my family and i the pain is immense.can see pics through facebook this i believe should not be happening yet twice in 2 days on different corners of the united states .
Harborview eh? I live in W WA too.