A newborn baby has died and another is fighting for its life after they were given nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, instead of oxygen at an Australian hospital.
The incident occurred at Sydney’s Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital, where both babies were born in June and July of this year. An investigation has revealed that an oxygen outlet installed in a wall at the hospital’s neonatal resuscitation unit in July 2015 had been emitting nitrous oxide instead of oxygen.
The alarm was only raised by a paediatrician when the second baby fell ill.
New South Wales Health Minister Jillian Skinner commented:
“I am profoundly sorry for the families of a newborn baby who died and another who was severely affected after the wrong gas was dispensed through a neonatal resuscitation outlet at Bankstown-Lidcombe hospital,”
“I deeply regret these families have suffered through such a devastating error. NSW Health will do all it can to support them.”
“The error was discovered after a pediatrician raised concerns about the unexpected death of the second baby,” she said. “Testing of the gas outlets found one oxygen outlet was emitting nitrous oxide instead of oxygen.”
Ms Skinner assured the public that all eight operating theatres at the hospital have now been examined and the outlet responsible for the baby’s death has been fixed, although the theatre remains closed,
A formal investigation involving BOC Limited, the company that installed and certified the gas tanks, is underway.
