
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, May 29, 1990                   TAG: 9005290141
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

OPERATING TABLE FIRE KILLS PATIENT

A 26-year-old woman in surgery for injuries suffered when she was hit by a car died when sheets surrounding her on an operating table at UCLA Medical Center burst into flames, officials said.

When the fire was extinguished, Angela Hernandez of Los Angeles was dead, officials said after the accident Monday.

"Apparently the operation was nearing completion and somehow the sheets they used on the hospital gurney caught fire," said Pat Marek, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department. "It's really unusual. I've never heard of anything like this.

Marek said that the initial report was that the patient died of injuries caused by the fire, but added that authorities are going to conduct an autopsy to determine the official cause of death.

Vicki Beck, a spokeswoman for the medical center, said that the blaze broke out about 5:30 a.m., "engulfing the surgical draping cloth on the patient who then died."

Beck said that there were at least eight doctors, nurses and technicians in the operating room when the fire broke out. She said the staff and campus police tried to put out the blaze but were forced from the operating room by intense flames and heavy smoke.

- Los Angeles Daily News

by CNB