Child Dies Of 107-Degree Fever At PA Hospital

HERSHEY, PA — In January, a 6-year-old boy died at a Pennsylvania hospital after his temperature spiked to 107 degrees. Now, law enforcement officials are looking into the circumstances surrounding the young child's death, which happened after he was put in a special heating blanket at Penn State Hershey Medical Center.

In March, the hospital and the Pennsylvania Department of Health launched its own investigation, which revealed a lapse in documentation of the boy's temperature leading up to his death. But this week, Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico said he wants to review the incident, according to the Associated Press.

According to information from Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, the child's death happened in mid-January after he was brought to the emergency department for low body temperature and presumed sepsis.

The patient, who had "ongoing, complex and life-limiting health issues," was placed under a Bair Hugger — a device manufactured by 3M that uses forced hot air to raise a person's temperature.

After spending the night in the emergency department, the unidentified boy's blood pressure dropped and his temperature rose to 107 degrees, the hospital said. He was brought to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and died several hours later.

The hospital said it reviewed his chart and found no documentation of his temperature being taken over a 10-hour period leading up to his death.

The Department of Health has cited the hospital for five issues related to the incident, including the failure to report the patient safety issue, failure to meet standards of care, and failure to evaluate and ensure the orientation of agency nurses when hired.

"During the DOH on-site investigation, we immediately developed a corrective plan of action for each issue identified," the statement from the hospital said. The hospital says it now requires every employee to undergo training to ensure the timely reporting of patient safety events, and it will be conducting random audits of patient records.

As a result of the incident, the use of the Bair Hugger device for pediatric patients will now be limited to the operating rooms, where patients are continuously attended, the hospital said.