Probe finds minor violations but none related to fire that hurt baby at Mercy

Mercy Hospital was in violation of some minor safety code rules on Jan. 22 when baby Maverick Werth was burned in his bassinet in the Coon Rapids hospital's nursery. But none of those violations was related to the accident, according to a report released Thursday by the Minnesota Department of Health.

The agency conducted the investigation a few days after a fire burst out under Maverick's plastic oxygen hood about 12 hours after his birth, causing second- and third-degree burns on his face and body. The investigation was conducted to determine whether Mercy was in compliance with federal safety and medical care standards. Investigators were not charged with finding out what caused the fire. That is still under investigation.

However, they found a number of minor infractions, such as improper training for fire drills and fire alarm maintenance records, unrelated to the fire.

Maverick has recovered from his burns, said the Werths' attorney, Chris Messerly. He has scarring on his wrist that will require skin grafts, but his parents, Melissa and Justin Werth, have decided that will wait until he's a bit older, Messerly said.

The Health Department report lays out in dramatic detail what happened that day.

Maverick was born at 9:47 p.m. Jan. 21, three weeks prematurely. The next morning, a doctor ordered him placed under an oxygen hood for four hours because he was having trouble breathing.

At 8:50 a.m., two nurses went to Maverick's bassinet. One was about to listen to his heart with a stethoscope when she heard a "click and a poof of sound and saw flames in the oxygen hood." The second nurse said that "it was like someone turned on a blow torch."

One of the nurses ripped off the plastic hood and turned off the oxygen. The two nurses smothered the fire with the baby's blanket and a third nurse lifted him from that bassinet and placed him in another, where he was treated for his injuries.

He then was rushed to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, which specializes in treating burns.

The cause of the fire is still unknown, said David Kanihan, spokesman for Allina Hospitals and Clinics, which owns Mercy Hospital. The hospital has a number of investigative experts, but nothing similar is known to have happened before, he said.

Messerly said there could be any number of causes. For example, the humidity in the nursery that day was 17 percent; perhaps it was dry enough that a spark from static electricity ignited a fire, accelerated by the pure oxygen.

Both Messerly and Kanihan said the outcome of the investigation will be made public as soon as possible.

"We are committed to broadly sharing any information coming out of this investigation to prevent it from ever happening again," Kanihan said.

Josephine Marcotty • 612-673-7394