NURSE KILLED

Greymouth Evening Star, 31 October 1933, Page 7

NURSE KILLED

IN WORKING X-RAY

LONDON, September 13

How a nur.se was fatally electrocuted while helping at the taking of tin X-ray photograph at Wimbledon Hospital, was described at a Wimbledon inquest yesterday. It was staled that the accident was the first of its kind on record: The nurse was Miss Dorothy Barnes, 26, of. Stratht>lon-ctescort. Douglas, Isle of Mun. She was acting ward sister at the hospital. Dr. R. 11. Swinglehurst, house surgeon al the hospital, said that on Friday after noon ho was assisting the radiologist to photograph a fracture ol the shoulder of an old lady. Before taking the second photograph the nurse adjusted the blanket over the patient. The radiologist said "Stand dear” before pressing the button, aud the nurse stood back.

About the middle of the exposure she put her hand forward again to press the blanket and there was a crack and. a big spark, which seemed like a yellow dame. For a moment they thought the blanket was on lire. Nurse Barnes recoiled, but said that she was all right and smiled. Two seconds later she fell to the floor, and although artificial respiration was tried, she died'. Dr. Swinglehurst added that he carried out a post-mortem examination. In his opinion death was due to cardiac failure, due to the pasage of 30 milliamperes and 50,000 volts through the body, possibly accelerated by slight fatty degeneration of the heart. Nurse Barnes’s father, who said that he had been in the electrical trade for thirty years, suggested that whereas X-ray work was usually carried' out in a special room, with a properly earthed couch, on this occasion the patient was on an ordinary bed -with rubber casters, and not, therefore, earthed. It was possible, he thought, lor the bed to become charged, so that any person coming in contact with it would receive a shock. Mr W. Renne, manager of the firm which manufactured the apparatus, said that it had been supplied to hospitals all over the country, and there had never been an accident before. The jury returned a verdict of accidental death, due to the inadvertence cf Nurse Barnes. No blame attached to anyone.

Mr AV. G. AVhiffen. chairman of the Wimbledon Hospital, expressed sympathy with, the relatives of Nurse Barnes. He added that they had used X-ray apparatus since 1912 and taken hundreds of photographs without any accident.