A South Florida mother took her baby to the hospital for a fever, but the infant left with severe burns. How did it happen? The Nightteam’s Karen Hensel has tonight’s 7 Investigates.
It was Thanksgiving, and Traci Burns knew something was wrong.
Traci Burns, mother: “She was just sleeping all day, and it wasn’t normal.”
By that night, her 7-week-old daughter Kaitlen was running a high fever.
Traci Burns: “I called the hospital, and I asked them, ‘Is it OK for me to bring her in?’ Because that’s the hospital I had her, and they told me to go ahead and bring her in so they can check her out.”
Kaitlen was brought to the hospital for a fever, but within hours left with second-degree burns and three large blisters, one on her palm and two on the inside of her wrist.
Traci Burns: “I just cried all night, and I kept telling her sorry, because I felt like it was my fault.”
Kaitlen was suffering from a high fever and dehydration, so Traci says the nurses tried to give her fluids through an IV, but here’s what Traci says she saw when she walked into the room.
Traci Burns: “When I go back inside, the light is off, and there’s a guy standing. He’s holding a light underneath my baby’s palm while the woman is trying to find the vein. It was a small handheld light he had in his hand, and he dumped it in his front pocket.”
Traci says there were no pediatricians at the hospital, and Kaitlen’s hand still had no IV. She was taken by ambulance to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital.
That’s where medical records show staff discovered and documented the “second degree burn with intact blisters” that the “mother recalls a light being used to place IV in area,” and they suggested “wound care for a thermal burn.”
Rosalind Harris, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital IV Access Team: “Thermal burn is something that’s caused from heat from the outside to the tissue.”
Karen Hensel: “So it could be something like a flashlight?”
Rosalind Harris: “If the flashlight generated enough heat, yes.”
We showed the picture of Kaitlen’s burns to two registered nurses with the IV access team at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital.
Karen Hensel: “Have you ever seen anything like that?”
Seth Muller, IV Access Team: “No.”
Karen Hensel: “What does that look like to you?”
Rosalind Harris: “Those look like blisters caused by heat.”
Karen Hensel: “When you first saw the burns, when they unwrapped the gauze at the second hospital, what was your reaction?”
Traci Burns: “I started crying. I immediately started crying, because I felt like it was my fault. I left her there. I trusted them. They were nurses. I trusted them, and you know, I felt like I let her down.”
Traci apparently is not alone. It is unclear how often this happens to babies, but we did find this blog comparing a $20 flashlight to a $300 medically approved light that does not generate heat.
One response reads: “Be careful. Someone used a flashlight on an ambulance in my area. The infant ended up with second-degree burns, because there was no way for the heat to escape.”
Traci Burns: “I didn’t think to look at the light, because I didn’t know she was being burned, so I didn’t think to say, ‘Hey, what are you using on her?'”
Traci told us she wanted to share her story because she doesn’t want this to happen to any other family. Meanwhile, doctors have told her little Kaitlen may have a scar and have recommended she see a specialist.
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