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JCAHO, state regulators investigating 2003 surgical fire

Healthcare Security Weekly, April 18, 2005

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and state regulators in Washington are launching separate investigations into a 2003 surgical fire, which some speculate contributed to the death of a heart attack victim, reports the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

The Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle is coming under scrutiny two years after the incident when a story in last Thursday's Seattle Post-Intelligencer raised suspicions about the role the fire may have played in the cause of death. Additionally, someone submitted a memo on Virginia Mason letterhead to the media last week accusing the hospital of unsafe care.

Virginia Mason officials adamantly deny the claim. Officials say the victim, who experienced a severe heart attack, suffered first- and second-degree burns on his shoulder when an electrocauterizer, which is a device used to cut skin, ignited the alcohol used to prepare him for bypass surgery.

The man died shortly after the fire was put out.

Robert Kaplan, MD, medical director of Virginia Mason, says the heart attack was the only cause of death.

Since the incident, surgical units now apply alcohol with a stick, rather than pouring the solution on the patient.

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