Numerous recently become parents experience concerns regarding the well-being of their children in various public environments, ranging from parks to grocery stores and more. Every unfamiliar location brings potential risks from strangers, germs, and various other conceivable dangers.
Nevertheless, parents typically experience a sense of security when entrusting their infants to the care of doctors and medical professionals.
This aspect is what intensifies the profound sadness of this particular story.
Becky and Ryan Kekula were confronted with an unimaginable tragedy as their 6 month old son, Jackson, underwent a sleep study at Boston Children’s Hospital.
On February 18, 2022, the couple, who are residents of Plymouth, Massachusetts, took their infant to Boston Children’s Hospital for a car seat test and a sleep study. These examinations were conducted overnight at the hospital.
According to Jackson’s parents, as reported by WCVB5, their son experienced a significant decrease in heart rate and oxygen levels. Merely thirty minutes later, the baby went into cardiac arrest.
The medical personnel at the hospital performed CPR on Jackson; however, he had sustained critical brain damage. Faced with an indescribable situation, the parents made the difficult decision to remove him from life support after a span of 12 days.
Subsequently, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health conducted an investigation into the infant’s death. Their findings revealed that the hospital staff had committed a sequence of mistakes, resulting in Jackson being deprived of oxygen for over 20 minutes.
As reported by the aforementioned news outlet, the Kekulas received a $15 million settlement from the hospital in response to these findings.
Following the settlement, Boston Children’s Hospital provided a statement to WCVB5:
“We expressing their heartfelt condolences to the family for the tragic loss of their son.” The hospital stated that they promptly halted all sleep studies and initiated a comprehensive investigation into the incident. They thoroughly assessed their policies, staff training, competencies, and all aspects of the systems involved in sleep lab studies, including scheduling, ordering, triaging, and conducting the actual study.
“We have identified and implemented numerous enhancements in our approach to conducting sleep studies, including redefining the roles and responsibilities of team members, providing hands-on skills training and education for sleep lab staff, enhancing the orientation and ongoing training for sleep technologists, modifying the process of ordering and triaging to better evaluate potential risks to patients, and conducting a thorough assessment of the testing environment. Following the implementation of these improvements and a careful review, sleep studies were gradually reinstated in a phased manner to prioritize patient safety.”
The statement concluded by asserting that they maintain vigilant oversight of the care delivery in sleep studies to uphold the utmost levels of quality and safety for patients and their families. They reiterate their organization-wide dedication to prioritize and enhance quality and safety, emphasizing that it forms the fundamental basis of all care provided at Boston Children’s Hospital.
The helpless infant was unable to cry out for assistance, indicating a failure on someone’s part to fulfill their responsibilities.
It is a heartbreaking situation that warrants prayers and heartfelt condolences to the grieving family. 💔