Is Surgical Fire A Logical Risk For A Patient?

A logical risk should be viewed as an assumed risk. The risky nature of an event has been assumed, due to that one risk’s recognized existence. For example, a surgical patient must accept the risky nature of an operation, because it can encourage development of an infection. In that respect, a surgical fire could not be called a logical risk. Still, an operating room does contain all the elements necessary for ignition of flames.

Ignition sources in an operating room

• Lasers
• Fiber optic devices
• Light sources
• Electro surgery units

Fuel sources in operating room

• Cloth draped over patient
• Alcohol in various preparations
• Patient’s hair

Sources of oxygen when surgical team at work

• Concentrated oxygen
• Nitrous oxide
• Air in room

Obviously, the members of a surgical team have a duty of care towards the patient. That duty ought to include effective communications. In the absence of such communications, a source of fuel might come in contact with an igniter at a time when oxygen was also present. In such a situation, a fire could get started.

Surgical equipment that can cause burns

• Unfiltered UV light
• Hot surgical equipment
• Specific chemicals

Careless or neglectful use of any of the following can cause a patient to get burned. Consequently, the harmed patient could sue for medical malpractice. By filing such a lawsuit, the same patient could seek compensation for specific losses with the help of Injury Lawyer in Oakville.

Losses for which compensation could be sought

Money spent on the additional medical care, as caused by accident. This would be the care that allowed for a healing of the patient’s wounds. Such care might not call for introduction of any equipment, but it could certainly entail the utilization of skin that has been created in a biomedical laboratory. Wages not received, due to the time that must be added to the patient’s medical leave.The costs introduced by disfigurement of the burned patient; this would be in addition to money spent on efforts to aid the healing of the wounds. Here again the costs of skin created in the laboratory might add to the amount of money claimed as a loss by the burned patient.

Costs related to patient’s pain and suffering; this might include the emotional consequences of any scarring. In order to seek the desired compensation, the victim would need to demonstrate the existence of more than the surgical team’s duty of care. The court would want evidence that the same team had breached its duty; in other words proof that it did not care properly for the patient on the operating table.

In addition, the court would need evidence of the fact that the breach of care by the team at the operating table actually caused the patient’s injuries. Finally, the court would request evidence that the time and expense devoted to caring for the patient’s injuries added to the list of accident-caused damages.