Incubator fire badly burns Minn. newborn

[Marie]

I should REALLY clarify on my post that "baby is overall well" with babies in O2 hoods... here's the deal...
usually things are overall going in a good direction in regard to respirations if you are able to get the baby to an o2 hood or other form of 02 such as a nasal cannual or something vs. an advanced airway such as a vent or oscillator. :-( In other words, the baby was doing good enough to support his or her own respirations on their own, but needed O2 support - in regards to the babies airway. A lot of babies in the NICU are not able to, and some end up on a vent or a oscillator. Sounded like the baby needed to be in a warmer too if I remember from the article, so it needed to have its temp regulated.

Of course you can have OTHER issues - infection, ect that require you to admit to the NICU and are life threatening. There are SO many things that go in the NICU... it is amazing.

Hope that makes sense. Just wanted to clairify. I am so glad your baby is better Marie!

Thanks Pedinurse, I really like how you explained it. In our case, our baby was born "face first" (there's a more technical name for it but I can't remember right now, I think it is very rare so not a worry for any pregnant moms reading this!). Being born that way compromised his breathing - as you can see by all the red 'strangulation' spots on his face and body (pitickuie?? I don't know how to spell that) - two black eyes also appeared after a few days. Because we were in a small town hospital it was decided to life flight him to the nearest children's hospital. And a good thing we did because after 2 days he started having bad seizures for which they never found a cause. He was off oxygen after a couple of months and is perfectly healthy now.

I'll never forget the NICU experience - it was both heartbreaking and heart lifting at the same time. The 1st night there a baby died, another baby received a heart transplant, and a baby to be adopted was born with many problems (it was beautiful to witness the care and support between birth mom and adoptive parents). Every minute of every day brought another miracle or another tragedy. I will also never forget the nurses who cared for my baby and who walked the miles of corridors in the hospital at all hours in order to find me so I could breastfeed. I don't think anyone could ever spend time in a NICU and not be changed forever.

I am hoping so much that this baby and his parents continue to be strong in both spirit and body. I know the parents must be aching so badly to hold and comfort him.

 

[southcitymom]

Perhaps I've been on WS too long, but with the (supposed) flame-retardant properties of hospital bedding, but I'm thinking arson. Possible here??
Was this at a VA hospital??

Crypto6

Nope - a private hospital in a small town in GA - it happened around 1991.

 

[southcitymom]

NO. Its a myth like Big Foot.

Big Foot is a myth???!!! No way.

 

[GlitchWizard]

Big Foot is a myth???!!! No way.

Big Foot = Big.... hands. Is that a myth, too? ;-)

 

[TheBugHouse]

holy crap! i world be so angry if that was my baby... what the heck happened???!!! an o2 hood is supposed to be safe...

Hey, long time lurker, first time poster, I felt compelled. Just because something is non-invasive doesn't automatically mean its safe. Although oxygen isn't a flammable gas it does vigorously support combustion. Often resulting in the burning of "fire retardant material". The slightest ignition source is all it would take. Oxyhoods arent sealed in any way, considering the electronic components inside an isolete, it's really amazing this doesn't happen more often. I think that is a MAJOR misunderstanding by the general public about a hospital setting. The general perception is a hospital is a safer more secure place, however, that couldn't be further from the truth. BTW pedi- an oscillator is a vent

 

[pedinurse]

Hey, long time lurker, first time poster, I felt compelled. Just because something is non-invasive doesn't automatically mean its safe. Although oxygen isn't a flammable gas it does vigorously support combustion. Often resulting in the burning of "fire retardant material". The slightest ignition source is all it would take. Oxyhoods arent sealed in any way, considering the electronic components inside an isolete, it's really amazing this doesn't happen more often. I think that is a MAJOR misunderstanding by the general public about a hospital setting. The general perception is a hospital is a safer more secure place, however, that couldn't be further from the truth. BTW pedi- an oscillator is a vent

Yes, it is a type of ventilator but it is, from MY simple understanding, a step above the conventional ventilator. I didn't think I needed to explain that but I guess I have to go into extreme details to make sure YOU don't think I'm an idiot.