IV Mixup Leads to Cardiac Arrest and Lawsuit in Tennessee
An Indiana man has filed suit against Hamilton County, Tennessee claiming that while being treated for an ankle injury and dehydration back in 2011, he was inadvertently given Lidocaine which resulted in him going into cardiac arrest.
On September 6, 2011, Melvin Davis, 57, of West Harrison, Indiana was hiking in Hamilton County, Tennessee, at Greenway Farms when he came upon a ropes course. He became entangled in the ropes and remained stuck there for 2 days.
Davis was discovered by another hiker on September 8, 2011 and Hamilton County EMS responded. Paramedic Timothy Waldo allegedly established an IV of normal saline, and then by mistake administered a 500ml bag of Lidocaine run wide open.
The Lidocaine put Mr. Davis into cardiac arrest, and he was successfully resuscitated by the staff at Erlanger Hospital.
The Chattanoogan.com has a copy of the complaint (although it appears to have some cut and paste errors in it). Davis is seeking $300,000 from Hamilton County and Hamilton County EMS.
Chief, history does repeat itself. As you may recall, the same IV drug mix-up took place in RI several years ago. Interesting case involving a trauma victim (life-threatening injury) and a pre-mixed bag of Lidocaine. Not sure of the civil suit outcome but I know it had a profound impact on pre-hospital protocols.
that sucks, now the question is who drew up the med. medics who have emts,first responders or just plain FF with them, alot of them are good people but training, training, training who ever it was…..how much was the bag, does lido come in 1k bag, ours use to come in 250ml. again training and paying attention.
incidents like this do happen everywhere.This is known as human error.It is fortunate that this man survived this terrible mistake.He should be compensated for his pain and suffering and I am sure he will be.The individual or individual’s involved in this unfortunate medical mishap will under go deserved scrutiny,possibly retraining,or suspension pending a review by superiors with a possibility of dismissal if found blatantly negligent.The positive of this incident is that we all learn to SLOW DOWN just a little and look at every med twice ,and announce the med and dosage to our medical team mates with acknowledgement from them BEFORE any medication is administered.
Joe I completely agree with your statement. There is also the potential for a systemic or agency liability. How are the fluids carried in the first-in bag? Are they stored in the same compartment as drip medications. We all know how easy it is to grab a bag, rip it open without double-checking. As previously stated, how big was that lidocaine bag. Was it clearly marked. A mistake yes. a positve outcome-fortunately. Should serve as a wake up for getting back to basics and confirming patient rights when administering meds. Those basics also lighten the negligence.