Hello again.
I have now been to the inquest into my aunt?s death with the electric blanket and I thought you might like to hear what was discovered.
First of all, the blanket turned out to be over 25 years old as the company that produced it went out of business in 1988. She had apparently had a visit from a fire officer on one occasion and a visit from a charity worker in the area concerned with the safety of vulnerable people on another. Both had advised her not to use the blanket, but she went ahead and did so nevertheless.
She did have something of a stubborn streak which I believe comes from a desire for independence and this is something I well understand, particularly as I approach old age myself. She was given a pendant with an emergency button, but sent it back, saying she did not need it. The unfortunate fact is that if she had been wearing it at the time, she would have been able to summon help sooner and not wait until the care worker arrived at 9.00 am to get her up.
The Coroner was very thorough in his investigation, taking over two hours to go through all the details of what had happened. He had plenty of congratulations for the care worker who had the presence of mind not to open the bedroom door more that a few centimetres for fear of letting in fresh oxygen that would have boosted the fire and caused further pain. He also congratulated the Fire Brigade for their speedy response to the 999 call ? they arrived within six minutes and rescued my aunt from bed and put out the fire quickly and efficiently. He also praised the medical team who dealt with her and took her to hospital by air ambulance.
He asked the Fire Brigade and the Council to talk to each other with a view to devising a system whereby electric blankets of vulnerable people could be examined at regular intervals and they said that such discussions were already in place. If there can be a silver lining to this incident, this must surely be it as such a procedure may well save a life in future.
We naturally ask what lessons can be learned from this very unfortunate incident. The first for me is that I will never get into a bed with an electric blanket switched on. It is probably okay to heat the bed up first as long as the plug is removed upon entry. I know some people will say this is somewhat over the top with all the safety certificates electric blankets carry these day, but having witnessed what I have in this case, I will be very careful in my use of electric blankets if ever I feel the need to buy one.
Secondly, it is very important that vulnerable people have and use emergency buttons and we should try to find ways to overcome their natural reluctance to do so.
Thirdly, never hold up a fire engine in the street ? you never know what kind of incident they are attending.