A newborn baby in a hospital was given nitrous oxide (laughing gas) instead of oxygen in Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital in Sydney, Australia. Laughing gas is often used for people going through dental work. It is colorless, odorless, and there is no way to tell what it is until after inhalation.
Two children were exposed to it because of a faulty gas tank installation. One child died, and the other is in critical condition with suspected brain damage. The New South Wales Health Minister, Jillian Skinner, said:
“I am profoundly sorry for the families of a newborn who died and another newborn who was severely affected … I deeply regret these families have suffered through such a devastating error. NSW Health will do all it can to support them.
The oxygen outlet in one of the hospital’s theatres was incorrectly installed and certified by BOC Ltd in July 2015.”
All of the operating rooms have been checked for nitrous oxide tanks. The one operating room that was affected has been closed.
BOC Limited is still investigating and trying to find out how this tank mix-up occurred. They said that the oxygen tanks are black and the nitrous oxide tanks are light blue, so the tanks obviously don’t look the same.
The government, as well as BOC Limited, are launching investigations into the matter. BOC said:
“As soon as BOC was notified of the situation we cooperated fully with all investigations being undertaken by the NSW Government – the hospital, the NSW coroner, and the Ministry of Health teams.”
The two babies affected were born in June and July. When the one child was sickened, and the second child died, the pediatrician raised concerns, and the mix-up was discovered by testing the gas outlets.
I’m wondering how they went that long without noticing that the wrong tanks were there. If they were installed last year, why wasn’t this discovered sooner?
Nitrous oxide can kill adults as well. Here is a news story about a teenager in London who died after inhaling the gas while trying to get high:
Watch this video about how the baby died by nitrous oxide overdose:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDr_Ie2mHzw&ab_channel=allaroundtheweb
Featured Image: Screenshot Via YouTube Video.
