The incident occurred Feb. 11 at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio. Clinicians were using the defibrillator to try to revive 70-year-old Robert Allen. A spark from the defibrillator ignited a fire, which spread to the patient, the bedding and his IV pump, according to an incident report cited by KENS 5. An oxygen source that was accidentally left on in the room contributed to the fire.
Police ruled Mr. Allen was dead before the fire occurred, but said burn marks were present on his shoulders and back.
Methodist Hospital confirmed a small fire involving a piece of equipment occurred at the facility.
“We reported the incident to authorities and conducted an internal review to help ensure this does not happen in the future,” the hospital said in a written statement to KENS 5. “The safety of our patients is a high priority for us; we regret this incident occurred but are grateful to our staff for reacting quickly in extinguishing the fire and continuing to care for patients.”
Editor’s note: This article was updated May 29 at 11:48 a.m.
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