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Article Another hospital reveals gas line ‘incident’ after BOC work

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After a gas line mixup at a Sydney hospital last week that left one baby dead and another seriously brain damaged, a hospital in Queensland has also revealed problems with gas lines installed by the same company.

BOC Limited incorrectly installed and certified the oxygen outlet in a theatre at Sydney’s Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital, where two newborn babies were administered with ‘laughing’ gas instead of oxygen, reports 7 NEWS.

One newborn baby died. The other suffered critical brain injuries.

The Wesley Hospital located in Brisbane has since confirmed to Yahoo7 in a statement that “an incident occurred in October 2005 during a building project that involved the installation of gas lines by a subcontractor (BOC).”

“The incident was addressed at the time by the building contractors with limited disruption to hospital activity and no patient involvement,” a spokesperson for the Wesley Hospital said.

According to the ABC, in 2005 a contractor crossed oxygen gas lines for a new neo-natal room at the hospital with a carbon dioxide line for surgical equipment in a nearby operating theatre.

The problem was only discovered by hospital maintenance engineers when oxygen pressure sensors repeatedly went off, alerting staff to the issue, the ABC reported.

An internal investigation was reportedly performed at the time.

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  • Oh my god! I know we all make mistakes. Unfortunately when you make mistakes in hospitals, lives are usually lost. Such a waste of 2 little lives

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  • This is an enormous error with huge consequences !! Bless the families involved !

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  • Wow after all the years that BOC have been doing this why are their being mistakes show up now.

    Is it that new staff are younger and more complacent in following the installation guidelines. Are they too busy talking about what they did on the weekend instead of concentrating?

    Surely there are job/instal sheets that are signed off by the boc workers and handed back into boc admin. Cant these be followed up to find the staff that are putting lives at risk?

    Its not good enough boc!

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  • How many lives have to be lost or quality of life damaged before this issue is rectified. Who actually connects these supplies, BOC or a hospital staff member? It seems these need to checked by 2 or 3 hospital staff members before they are used. It appears to be a BOC incorrect fitting and supply.

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  • This is horrific my heart goes out to the families that have had this happen.Why is something signed off on through a company without it being checked,double checked even triple checked they are working at a place where lives are meant to be saved,this company needs to be thoroughly investigated to make sure no other lives are at stake..

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  • Someone doesn’t know their job and has killed and injured. They need to be held to account.

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  • Are things like these not supposed to be checked, then double checked, before it gets a seal of approval. Disgusting. In this day in age, in Australia, this should not be happenning.

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  • I would ave thought once was quite enough fr this kind of mistake.

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  • how scary! One simple little mistake lost a baby’s life, clearly they didn’t actually check over their work and test their lines before signing off on the job

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