An inquest dealing with the case of an elderly man, who died in an ambulance engulfed by fire within four to six seconds of a flame coming out of a medical oxygen cylinder, has returned a verdict of accidental death. <\/p>\n
It seemed \u201cas if they were coming from a flame-thrower\u201d, a paramedic who was in the ambulance with Christopher Byrne<\/a> (79) outside Naas<\/a> General Hospital in 2016 told the jury.<\/p>\n Along with its verdict, the jury asked that the use of medical compressed oxygen cylinders be reviewed to minimise the effects of heat build-up in the cylinder valve and that adequate firefighting equipment be available in ambulance bases. <\/p>\n Stephen Lloyd, a paramedic who was in the ambulance with Mr Byrne when it arrived outside the hospital, told the inquest that after he connected tubing to a portable oxygen cylinder and turned it on, he turned back around and it was \u201cin flames\u201d. <\/p>\n They were coming from an area where the tube was connected and the top of the cylinder like a \u201cflame-thrower\u201d, he said. <\/p>\n The blankets caught fire immediately, he said. He tried to help get the patient out but the fire and heat were too great. He could not get to him and suffered burns to his own face and arms. <\/p>\n The ambulance driver, he believed, had pulled him out. \u201cIt was an awful terrifying experience and I never witnessed anything like it in my life\u201d. <\/p>\n The driver, David Finnegan, an advanced paramedic, said after he left the portable cylinder on Mr Byrne\u2019s trolley, he turned to leave and heard \u201ca click and a pop\u201d which was \u201cnot the norm\u201d. <\/p>\n He said there was thick black smoke and a lot of problems trying to get the patient out. \u201cI knew the poor man was gone,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n Such cylinders were authorised for use by the Health Products Regulatory Authority<\/a>. Millions of are used worldwide and no other such fatality has been recorded here or in the UK, although there was one in Poland during the Covid pandemic. <\/p>\n