Man Catches Fire During Surgery (Free Talking Class)

Story:


Seattle police launched an investigation on Friday to determine how a patient undergoing emergency heart surgery caught on fire at a local hospital in 2003.

The male patient, who was not identified, went up in flames after alcohol poured on his skin was ignited by a surgical instrument.

The patient died after the surgery but that was due to heart failure and not the fire, said Dr. Robert Caplan, medical quality director of Virginia Mason.

Caplan said fires are known to occur in operating rooms although they were extremely rare.

The two-year-old incident became publicly known after an anonymous letter sent to the media mentioned it as a sign of unsafe health care at the hospital, and said the patient burned to death.

Caplan strongly disputed its contents. "That letter is factually incorrect," he said.

Title: Man Catches Fire during Surgery

Source: Infowars.com, Reuters



Level: Intermediate


Vocabulary

anonymous
alcohol
content(s)
determine
dispute(d)
emergency
factually
flame(s)
ignite
investigation
launch(ed)
media
mention(ed)
operate(-ing)
patient
pour
public(ly)
quality
surgery/surgical
undergo(ing)

Interesting phrases
catch fire
go up in flames
health care
launch an investigation
a sign of (something)

Talking Points


Have you heard of any strange occurrences that happened during surgery?


What do you think could have prevented this, or was it purely accidental?

What should the man's family do (if anything) to seek compensation from the hospital?

Do you think a lawsuit would be appropriate in this situation?
Against whom? (the doctors/surgeons, hospital, others)

For More Practice

Check the newspaper for recent accidents or tragic events.
Describe the event(s) to your partner and discuss how this type of thing might be prevented in the future.

Pretend you work for a hospital where a tragic situation occurred.
How will you handle the publicity?

Do you think doctors are unfairly targeted in lawsuits?
How can we determine if a lawsuit is merited or not?


Special Thanks to:
Source:
http://www.eslgold.com