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Tripler Army Medical Center feeds Co2 to 1 minute old baby.
KGMB9 News ^ | March 2, 2005 | Angela Keen

Posted on 03/03/2005 12:09:25 AM PST by BROKKANIC

An Aliamanu couple says a critical mix-up at an Oahu hospital has left their otherwise healthy newborn brain damaged and in a coma. It happened when the mother delivered the baby boy at Tripler Army Medical Center on Jan. 14.


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; US: Hawaii
KEYWORDS: baby; coma; hawaii; healthcare; tripler
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Shortly after baby Izzy was delivered healthy and happy, something terrible went wrong.

Dwight and Shaley Peterson say the problem involved giving carbon dioxide instead of oxygen just after baby Izzy Peterson was born.

Switching oxygen with the wrong gas is a crucial mistake, one that has happened 22 times in the United States in the past 4 years.

The Petersons tried to have another baby for nearly 7 years. When it was time to deliver at Tripler, their dream became a reality.

"The epidural was perfect, the delivery was perfect, everything was perfect," said mother Shaley Peterson. "But... shortly right after birth, I remember lying there and the drape is there and you can't see what is gong on and I started hearing things."

1 posted on 03/03/2005 12:09:26 AM PST by BROKKANIC
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To: BROKKANIC

Dear God! What an unthinkable catastrophe!


2 posted on 03/03/2005 12:18:33 AM PST by Jaysun (It’s a lot easier to apologize than to ask permission.)
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To: BROKKANIC

To the locals on O'ahu, Tripler Hospital has earned the dubious distinction of being called, "Tripler the Cripler." Their record speaks for itself.


3 posted on 03/03/2005 12:26:17 AM PST by This Just In ((In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king))
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To: BROKKANIC

Easy solution:

1. CO2 canisters get a mandatory obnoxious color change.

2. Infuse an unmistakable odor into CO2 akin to mercaptan in CNG/LPG.


4 posted on 03/03/2005 12:30:54 AM PST by jra
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To: jra

My condolences to the family.

Now for the solution. You are right. We must learn from these tragic mistakes and every hospital should take note of possible solutions.

CO2 is very, very common. It's used all the time in fast food restaurants. I do think the tubes should be painted another color. That's what sharper restaurants do to distinguish which kind of syrup goes into which kind of drink slot. I really don't want to see the gov'ment imposing more laws at a faster rate. I think a simple 'word of advice' should be sent to all hospitals. It could also cost a fortune to put coloring in CO2, and that could ultimately be unneeded chemicals entering human bodies one way or another.

As for the legal side, the parents should sue that hospital for all this is worth. They will need every dime they can get to help their child. And an example should be made.


5 posted on 03/03/2005 1:53:36 AM PST by Arthur Wildfire! March (Deaniac the Chairman? Muahahahah!)
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To: BROKKANIC

I am at loss as to WHY compressed CO2 would even be available in a clinical environment, particularly neonatal.

Any neonatal nurses out there to offer a suggestion as to how in the world a non-green CO2 bottle would end up in the mix?


6 posted on 03/03/2005 3:40:23 AM PST by Blueflag (Res ipsa loquitor)
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To: Blueflag

Also, why weren't they monitoring blodd gasses? Something about this story is really wrong.


7 posted on 03/03/2005 3:42:23 AM PST by Blueflag (Res ipsa loquitor)
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To: Blueflag

OK, a quick google check reveals hospitals do have a use for CO2, but it comes in a grey cylinder, not green.

Medical carbon dioxide is used:
*to increase depth of anaesthesia rapidly when volatile agents are being administered. It increases depth of respiration and helps to overcome breath-holding and
bronchial spasm.
* to facilitate blind intubation in anaesthetic practice.
*to facilitate vasodilatation and thus lessen the degree of metabolic acidosis during
the induction of hypothermia.
*to increase cerebral blood flow in arteriosclerotic patients undergoing surgery.
*to stimulate respiration after a period of apnoea.
*in chronic respiratory obstruction after it has been relieved.
*to prevent hypocapnia during hyperventilation.
*for clinical and physiological investigations.
*in gynaecological investigation for insufflation into fallopian tubes and abdominal
cavities.


Except perhaps for apnea, didn't see a neonatal protocol.

I am at a loss.


8 posted on 03/03/2005 3:50:41 AM PST by Blueflag (Res ipsa loquitor)
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To: BROKKANIC
The connection fittings to the tanks of CO2 and Oxygen should be different eliminating the possibility of incorrect connections, even by colored-blind individuals.
9 posted on 03/03/2005 4:01:56 AM PST by SR 50 (Larry)
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To: SR 50

Good fix.


10 posted on 03/03/2005 4:03:57 AM PST by Jet Jaguar
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To: SR 50

...and my question, was the tank located centrally and hooked up to the wrong system, or was the tank actually located where the child was born, and someone attending the birth, made a mistake.


11 posted on 03/03/2005 4:34:13 AM PST by wita
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To: Jaysun

I don't know how often this happens in civilian hospitals, but over the years I have heard more and more about birth injuries in military hospitals.


12 posted on 03/03/2005 4:48:07 AM PST by didi (I like guys with skills. You know, like nunchuk skills.)
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To: BROKKANIC

When I was stationed at Hawaii, we called TRIPLER...CRIPPLER hospital.

They once let a guy die from head injuries so they could harvest his organs for another patient in 1980 or 1981, huge scandal, guy was beaten with a hammer, had massive head injuries, came in there brain dead, they let him linger on life support with NO EFFORTS to stop the bleeding, they just kept him on IV long enough to get the needy patients prepared who needed his organs.

It was a sick read.


13 posted on 03/03/2005 4:54:09 AM PST by RaceBannon ((Prov 28:1 KJV) The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.)
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To: MudPuppy

you'll know of similar stories from Crippler!


14 posted on 03/03/2005 4:54:43 AM PST by RaceBannon ((Prov 28:1 KJV) The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.)
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To: wita

"...and my question, was the tank located centrally and hooked up to the wrong system, or was the tank actually located where the child was born, and someone attending the birth, made a mistake."

Or, was CO2 gas in an O2 tank from the supplier.

Cracker jack reporting by the press as ususal.


15 posted on 03/03/2005 4:59:07 AM PST by IamConservative (To worry is to misuse your imagination.)
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To: SR 50
The connection fittings to the tanks of CO2 and Oxygen should be different

For industrial/laboratory cylinders, they are.

CGA 320 for CO2 service, .825"-14 NGO-RH-EXT (Flat Nipple):

CGA 540 for O2 service, .825"-14 NGO-RH-EXT:

The cylinder fittings are on the left, and the regulator fittings are on the right. The two are designed to be incompatible, and durned difficult to attach a cylinder of one gas to a system for another.

16 posted on 03/03/2005 4:59:51 AM PST by Kretek
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To: SR 50

If they were E-cylinders they already have the Pin Index Safety System in place. Larger G and H size cylinders use the Diameter Index Safety System. Sounds like someone wasn't paying attention.


17 posted on 03/03/2005 5:06:44 AM PST by TEXASPROUD
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To: Kretek

Didn't see your reply before I posted.


18 posted on 03/03/2005 5:08:59 AM PST by TEXASPROUD
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To: didi
I don't know how often this happens in civilian hospitals, but over the years I have heard more and more about birth injuries in military hospitals.

Good God man, can't they separate the carbon dioxide from the oxygen, and not even have Co2 in delivery rooms? I can't imagine what they'd need it for - Co2 has to be a rare necessity with newborns. This is just absurd.
19 posted on 03/03/2005 5:12:44 AM PST by Jaysun (Ask me for a free "Insomnia for Beginners" guide.)
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To: TEXASPROUD
I'm used to working with T-cylinders, so the information you gave about the smaller ones is useful. Thanks!
20 posted on 03/03/2005 5:14:58 AM PST by Kretek
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