DEATH FROM BURNS

Press, Volume C, Issue 29608, 2 September 1961, Page 10

DEATH FROM BURNS

Lit Cigarette In Oxygen Tent (N.Z. Press Association) AUCKLAND. Sept. 1. A 58-year-old man died this morning from severe burns he received in a fire at Green Lane Hospital late last night. He was: Norman Descon Edmondson, single, of 1 Arney road, Remuera. Auckland Hospital Board authorities said they believed he had attempted to light a cigarette in tihe oxygen tent in which he had been placed. Nursing staff smothered the burning bed and bedclothes before the fire could spread through the Fast of the ward. The nurse on duty heard a shout for help and the call bell ringing about 11.20 p.m. She rushed to the ward and saw “a massive blaze. It looked as though the whole ward was ablaze." With three other nurses she began to smother the outbreak and sent for the fire brigade and medical help. When an engine from the central fire station arrived the fire was out. Three doctors, however, battled for four hours in an effort to save Mr Edmondson’s life. They gave him a number of plasma transfusions and other treatment, but he died about 3.50 a.m. The superintendent-in-chief of the Auckland Hospital Board (Mr H. S. Kenrick) said Mr Edmondson was admitted to the hospital on August 28 suffering from chronic bronchitis. He was placed in an oxygen tent and given the “customary warning” about not smoking or striking a light. “On Thursday night he evidently attempted to light a cigarette and the tent caught alight. The flash fire set the bedding and his clothing on fire,” he said.