NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — How could it happen? That's the question at the heart of a high-profile malpractice lawsuit filed after a patient caught fire at Tristar Centennial Medical Center in Nashville.
That question of how is really the key.
A patient bursting into flames is, thankfully, rare. The how is important to prevent it from occurring again.
"They were all over that room. There were like 10 to 12 people. It just blew and they started patting him down and I saw his hand, and it was on fire. I was saying, 'Put him out,'" said Kathy Stark.
It was Thanksgiving day last year. Stark says her husband Bobby Ray was a cardiac patient. He was hospitalized with an oxygen mask when staff activated a defibrillator to restore a regular heartbeat.
"They put pads on him and left the mask on him and pushed the shock button, and there's a spark and he catches fire," said malpractice attorney Clint Kelly.
Bobby Ray did not survive. The medical examiner found a combination of cardiovascular disease and thermal burns as the cause of death.
How did it happen?
"They were telling her that there was a faulty wire in one of the pads, which caused a spark which caused his oxygen to explode," said Joyce Stark, Bobby Ray's daughter.
In the lawsuit, Kelly argues it was not an equipment malfunction, but a mistake by the staff for not removing the mask and turning off the oxygen before shocking his heart. That the cloud of oxygen around his body turned the spark into flames.
"How did they not know to remove the mask? That is so standard," said Kelly. "The question for me as a lawyer: was there sufficient training?"
Centennial has yet to respond directly to the lawsuit.
In a brief statement, the hospital did say it was reviewing the care provided to the patient and the functionality of the equipment.
The Stark family is suing not only on behalf of Bobby Ray, who died but also for his wife Kathy, who witnessed the entire ordeal.
