This Tuesday he died in Virgen del Rocío Hospital in Seville a 75-year-old man who suffered severe burns for him fire of a 061 helicopter in mid-August in the Cordoba town of Goat. The family, through the El Defensor del Paciente association, has filed a property claim against the Andalusian Health Service (SAS) by 1.8 million euros.
As detailed by the association in a note, the male has died after severe burns and injuries caused in the fire 061 helicopterdependent on Andalusian Health Servicewhere he was carried on a stretcher on August 10 and had landed on the cCabra soccer field.
In this regard, the lawyer Damian Vazquezspecialist in health law and legal collaborator of The Patient Advocatehas filed a claim for damages, where it is reported that “the patient had severe chest pain and constant sweating at home, so his family decided to transfer him for medical care.” Infanta Margarita de Cabra Hospital».
Thus, “they accessed through the Emergenciesthe patient was admitted and immediately taken to the Critical Care ward and they began to check his vital signs,” it is stated, adding that “once the diagnosis was made in the Infanta Margarita de Cabra Hospitalthe transfer of the patient to the Reina Sofía Hospital of Córdobareference, to perform a cardiac catheterization.
In this way, they have explained that “it was decided to carry out the transfer by helicopter because there was no UVI mobile with the necessary equipment for road transport in the vicinity of the Hospital, as reported”, so “the patient was transferred by ambulance to the María Dolores Jiménez Guardeño de Cabra Sports Centerfacilities that are used in the latest transfers made by helicopter from the Cabra Hospital, despite not being the most suitable place for it.
In this sense, the association has pointed out that “the transfer was not made from the heliport that has been used for many years in Cabra, and which is located at the top of the street Ben Mocadem». “This heliport apparently does not comply with regulations and, therefore, is not legalized,” they added.
Furthermore, they have added that “the ‘provisional heliport’ used –sports center-football field– was used for such transfer with spectators present in the stands who were waiting to later watch a football match, and no prior evacuation was carried out.” .
Fire
Specifically, “they had a staff of two local police officers, the paramedics who had carried out the transfer of the patient from the hospital and the paramedics and flight officers of the 061», they reported, to specify that «the helicopter began the checks prior to takeoff at approximately 8:00 p.m.», and, «as seen in videos on social networks, once the checks prior to takeoff were carried out, and with the co-pilot still outside the helicopter, a fire started on the helicopterwhere the patient was on a stretcher, completely tied and the pilot was at the controls of the device”, while “the doctor and the nurse were inside with the patient.”
«When the fire began, the doctor and the nurse left through the side door of the helicopter opposite to where the stretcher was, leaving the patient completely tied and immobilized; just as he also did pilotwho left the cabin and moved away from the source of the fire“, they have indicated, to highlight that “that is when the co-pilot came to the aid of the patient to try to free him from the stretcher, suffering an explosion right in front of him, which caused burns on his arm and made it impossible for him to continue helping him.”
After these events, “one of the agents of Local Police came to the patient’s aid, so during all this time, the claimant suffered burns and damage, for not having been able to remove him sooner”, they have stressed in the claim, where they point out that “after much effort he managed to get him out of the device once the part of the straps that had him immobilized burned, since apparently they did not proceed to cut them or open the safety mechanisms. Later “another police officer, dragging him along the ground, managed to get the patient away from the flames.”
«After about ten or 15 minutes a person appeared mobile ICU in the sports center, drawing attention to this particular, since this means of transport, previously, they said that it was not available,” they warned, to state that “for a time an attempt was made to stabilize the patient and prepare him for transfer to the Reina Hospital Sofia, as originally planned.
Transfer to Seville
The claim states that “the patient arrived at Reina Sofía Hospital Emergency Roomwhere he was treated by health workers, and once they had carried out all the pertinent checks, the health worker responsible for the Emergency Department informed the family members that the heart was fine, that they had not found an abnormality, when that was the supposed cause of transfer, and that given the importance of the burns, the most appropriate thing was to schedule an emergency transfer to the Virgen del Rocío Hospital in Sevilleas a reference hospital in the SAS for burns.
In the claim presented by the Association The Patient Advocatethrough the lawyer Damian Vazquezit is stated that “once he was transferred to the Virgen del Rocío Hospitalthe surgeon who was on duty at the Burn Unit informed his family that he had to operate urgently on the patient, since based on the photographs provided by his colleagues at the Queen Sofia Hospital “It was a priority to proceed as soon as possible.”
After performing the operation, they were informed of “the serious situation of the patient,” with “40% of the body surface burned; lower extremities with 3rd degree burns; the chest, back and arm with 2nd degree burns, and the left leg especially affected, warning from that moment that in the worst case scenario it may require part of it to be amputated, as has happened.
Since then the patient has received treatment in the Burn Unit of the Virgen del Rocío Hospitalwith interventions and admission to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU)“with great suffering and pain caused by the serious burns caused in the helicopter fire.”
The lawyer has provided the preliminary investigation carried out by Civil Aviation and specifies that “the causal relationship between the helicopter fire, where the complaining patient was, and the serious injuries, sequelae and burns suffered is clear”, so “the responsibility of the health administration is equally clear, and must be compensated for the damage caused. After submitting the claim on Monday, the patient died this Tuesday, “after months of suffering.”
Claim
In the claim presented by the lawyer before death, they requested 1,875,000 euroswith reservation of its later extension. After the death of the patient (major burn), his family, following his wish, They will continue with the claim.
Meanwhile, the president of the Association The Patient AdvocateCarmen Floreshas expressed that “it is very sad that a patient who was going to be transferred to a 061 hospital dependent on the SAS dies from the burns and problems caused by said fire in the helicopter, when he had no other serious pathology, for which the SAS and/or the company that owns the helicopter They will have to answer for it.”
