I wonder whereabouts (on the patient) the burn occurred?
A couple of thoughts come to mind:-
1) A charge must have built up on the patient, which discharged as soon as the opportunity (a path to earth) arose.
2) Was any "kit" attached (to the patient) at the time? ECG or SpO2 monitor, for example?
3) Are we sure that the burn wasn't in fact caused earlier (at the site of the ESU return plate, or where the patient had been in accidental contact with the table ...
etc.)?
4) At what stage in the transfer did this occur? Was the trolley still on the "anti-static" (conductive) flooring in the theatre at the time ... or was it outside the theatre proper?
5) And lastly ... (just for Mike-X), does the theatre have an isolated power system (and therefore a "floating" earth)?
"Earthed via the anaesthetic unit"? Hopefully not. In electrical terms, the patient would normally be "floating".
Post-op (and during transfer), what the patient needs is "gently bringing back down to earth" (in more senses than one). Equalising potentials
via a resistance, in other words.
