Fire in the operating room: a case report and laboratory study

Abstract

In July, 1998 a fire occurred in an operating room (OR) at the University Medical Center in Tucson, AZ. A patient was burned on the face, neck, and shoulders by the fire, which started during cranial burr-hole placement under monitored anesthesia care. This paper describes the actual case in some detail. The incident was simulated as accurately as possible in a laboratory experiment, in an attempt to determine specific risk factors for this event. The experiment found that a specific combination of factors was required to produce a fire similar in appearance to the one in the OR. The risk factors determined in these experiments are discussed in the context of previous reports of OR fires. Although other reports demonstrate some common characteristics of these events, the fire at the University Medical Center appears to be unique within the literature regarding the specific chain of events that led up to it.

Implications: A patient was seriously burned in a fire that occurred during surgery. We performed laboratory experiments to re-create the fire, and found some of the key factors that led to this event.