Investigation continues into "Earth Hour" deaths

Saturday, March 28, 2009 featured "Earth Hour.” A liberal propaganda event in which various homes, institutions and even a hospital turned off their power for an hour as a sign of environmental solidarity. Normally events like these are meaningless gestures to make environmentalists feel good about themselves without making any actual sacrifices. This time however, people died. Brian Briggs, a San Francisco, CA reporter writes:

Fifteen patients on life support and in surgery died at Franciscan Valley General Hospital when power was cut for "Earth hour" on Saturday.

The hospital was initially pleased with their participation in the worldwide celebration of the planet. "We asked many patients and their families if they were all right with us cutting the power. Most said as stewards of this planet it was their duty to observe Earth Hour. They knew the risks and were willing to take it," said hospital administrator Lawrence Cho.

As power was cut in the critical care ward some patients screamed in pain, others died calmly in their sleep. Cho said that most of the medical equipment had battery-powered back up systems that should have lasted through the one hour blackout, but aging batteries and poor maintenance resulted in many devices failing to continue operation for more than a few minutes. Some ventilators were only rated for 15 minutes of battery operation, but were considered sufficient for the blackout as they were used by patients who were believed capable of breathing on their own for brief periods.

A scheduling error resulted in two of the three operating theaters being in use during the blackout. Heart surgeon Dr. Gregory Morris was doing an open-heart procedure when the lights went out. "I wasn't sure what I was cutting into. Turns out it wasn't his heart, but his bowels. Unfortunately, Mr. Zimmerman didn't make it."

The emergency appendectomy occurring in the next theater did not have such catastrophic results, as the doctor and two of the nurses had portable flashlights. Nurse Alice Hornsby said “It was touch and go for a while there. We were terrified that the appendix would burst, but Dr Simms was able to get it out in time. Fortunately the patient didn't need a ventilator or other equipment.”

Dr Frank Simms who performed the appendectomy has already offered his resignation over the inclusion of the ER and operating rooms in the one hour voluntary blackout.

Marla Tompkins, surviving sister of cancer patient Warren Tompkins, said, "Warren struggled for breath as his ventilator was powered down. I thought he might make it, but with three minutes left before power was to be turned back on, he expired. It was tragic." Warren Tompkins' respirator was among those rated for only 15 minutes of battery operation.

Cho hopes other hospitals learn from the example of Franciscan Valley General Hospital and “participate in next year's Earth Hour. Don't let our difficulties dissuade you. Use this as an opportunity to review and test your emergency and disaster recovery policies.”

After being sent the above news clipping by an old college friend, I started doing a bit of digging on my own, eventually uncovering several new sources on this incident.

After the report above ran on Monday, March 30, 2009 investigations into the deaths at Franciscan Valley General Hospital have continued. In addition to the 15 deaths that occurred during the one hour blackout, an additional 26 deaths are suspected of being related to complications or injuries sustained as a result of the blackout. This includes three cardiac related deaths stemming from heart arrhythmias that began during or shortly after the blackout.

The original plan was for a blackout of non-critical administrative offices. Investigators want to know why the blackout was extended to the entire hospital, including operating rooms, the ER and the critical care ward. More to the point, why was the blackout continued for the full hour, even after it became apparent that patients were dying? These and other questions are among those investigators are examining. It's hoped that the criminal investigation will be concluded quickly, as there are already 20 civil and malpractice lawsuits pending against the hospital, none of which can proceed until the criminal investigation is concluded.

On a more sinister note, the Lawrence Cho recently sent out a press release bragging that the hospital was going to meet it's profitability and cost of care targets for the year. It's worth noting that the patients who died during or as a result of the intentional blackout were mostly high cost, high maintenance patients.